Objective The thrust of this proposal is to apply (infrared) optically stimulated luminescence (IR)OSL dating to the sediments of the Italian crater lakes and the Adriatic under current study in the PALICLAS programme. A major component of the proposed research strategy will be the careful empirical evaluation of the alternative experimental procedures used in sample treatment for luminescence dating, and the age estimates derived therefrom. This approach, involving close intercomparison and calibration with other techniques where they establish unambiguous dates, will then make it possible to use luminsecence dating as a primary chronological tool in those parts of the sequence where either there are conflicting indications of age from the other techniques or a lack of suitable material for their use. Since the preferred time-span for dating by OSL using feldspars is 1000 - 150,000 years, once the reliability of the technique has been verified by C-14 dates within the period of their effective overlap, it should prove of immense value in many current research programmes covering the longer time interval in the same type of climatic region. In parallel with the use of Luminescence, it is proposed to carry out a more exploratory evaluation of Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) dating on shells and foraminifera chosen from horizons the dates of which are well constrained by other methods. These samples will be used as a basis for testing the effectiveness and validity of using fading correction coefficients appropriate to the climatic region. The first objective of the proposal is to develop a methodology for providing well validated (IR)OSL dates from the crater lake and Adriatic sediments. The second objective is to apply the approach developed and validated in the first stage of the research to time intervals and sediment types that have proved intractable to other dating methods, and thus improve the chronological framework of the PALICLAS project as a whole. The third objective is to attempt to date shells and foraminifera from the sediments by means of ESR. Programme(s) IC-PECO/COPERNICUS - Scientific and technological cooperation between the European Community and European non-member countries, 1992- Topic(s) 01 - CEEC participation in ENVIRONMENT programme Call for proposal Data not available Funding Scheme CSC - Cost-sharing contracts Coordinator University of Liverpool EU contribution No data Address Roxby Building L69 3BX Liverpool United Kingdom See on map Total cost No data Participants (1) Sort alphabetically Sort by EU Contribution Expand all Collapse all Institute of Experimental Physics - Slovak Academy of Sciences Slovakia EU contribution No data Address 47,Watsonova 043 53 Kosice See on map Total cost No data