Technician Support: New Utah State University Luminescence Geochronology Laboratory

Utah State University, Logan UT

Investigators

Abstract

0744455 Pederson This grant provides partial salary support over a five year period for a laboratory technician in a recently established luminescence geochronology lab at Utah State University (USU). The USU luminescence geochronology lab houses a new optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) reader capable of single grain measurements. The instrument was acquired with funds from a charitable donation and the lab is now fully operational for dating the "burial" age (or date of last exposure to sunlight) of minerals, most commonly quartz sands. Research applications that rely on the OSL technique include dating of river and beach deposits, landslides and fired pottery, especially where no contemporary organic materials are available or where the burial ages exceed the radiocarbon dating maximum of ca. 50 Ka. OSL is unique dating tool for Quaternary geomorphology and few OSL labs exist in the U.S. This technical position will advance the goals of the lab which include expanding applications of OSL for studies in geomorphology, geohazards, and geoarchaeology, and to support student training and research. ***