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Introduction
Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating provides a direct age estimate of the last time quartz or feldspar minerals in a sediment were exposed to enough light to reduce a previous luminescence signal to zero – a process also referred to as bleaching, which resets the OSL clock. Luminescence is caused by exposure of minerals to naturally occurring ionizing radiation from radioisotopes in the sample and the surrounding sediment, and through incoming cosmic radiation. Once a sediment is buried and protected from light, this radiation causes electrons to slowly accumulate in defects in a mineral’s crystal lattice. The total amount of absorbed radiation energy is known as the burial dose. Subsequent exposure to light causes the trapped electrons to be released, each emitting a photon of light in the process. The intensity of this luminescence signal is directly propo...
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