Aberystwyth Luminescence Research Laboratory

Luminescence dating is a Quaternary dating method used to determine the age of a sample. The method was initially developed in the 1960's for dating pottery. However, since 1979 the method has also been applied to dating geological sediments, and this is the application that has been worked upon most extensively in the Aberystwyth luminescence laboratory. The method can produce ages from as low as 30-50 years, up to almost a million years.

The method is based upon the fact that many naturally occurring minerals, including quartz and most feldspars, are able to act as dosimeters, recording the amount of ionizing radiation that they are exposed to. This radiation principally comes from the radioactive decay of uranium, thorium and potassium in the sediments surrounding a sample. After being exposed to such radiation, when a sample is heated or exposed to light it emits light. This light is called luminescence.

The luminescence dating laboratory in Aberystwyth is part of the Institute of Geography and Earth Sciences in the University of Wales. The laboratory was established in 1989 under the direction of Prof. Ann Wintle and is now directed by Dr Geoff Duller. In 1994 the laboratory space was expanded to house new equipment and a computer room was created for the group. Within the Aberystwyth luminescence laboratory the majority of our luminescence measurements are made on automated systems built at Risø National Laboratory, Denmark. These instruments are able to perform a wide variety of tasks under computer control.

Within recent years samples from a wide variety of locations around the world have been dated. These include loess from the USA and China, dune sands from Namibia, Australia and the United Kingdom, glacial outwash sands from Scotland and Chile, and archaeological samples from South Africa, Zambia and Kenya.