9305692 Berger This award provides 60% of the cost of improving the laboratory equipment in the thermoluminescence (TL) dating laboratory in the Department of Geology at the Western Washington University. The University is committed to providing the remaining funds needed for the equipment upgrade. Thermal luminescence chronology uses the fact that mineral grains act as dosimeters of natural radiation capable of storing a portion of the energy from low-level environmental ionizing radiation (alpha, beta, gamma rays) which they absorb while at or near the surface. Because daylight empties light-sensitive electron traps and heating empties all electron traps (i.e., thermally stable defect sites) the time of last exposure to daylight of unheated samples or the last heating of volcanically heated materials can be dated with TL methods. At earth surface temperatures the storage of radiation energy can be accommodated for up to about one million years, making the TL method especially useful for timing events in the Quaternary period. The improved capabilities of the Western Washington University lab will be used in research projects which require dating of Quaternary samples. ***
