Luminescence dating of sediments using individual mineral grains

Luminescence is widely used to produce absolute ages for the time of deposition of a variety of types of sediments. The method relies upon the as- sumption that all grains are exposed to sufficient daylight prior to deposition for their luminescence signal to be reduced to a negligible level. Recent research has focused on the analysis of the luminescence signal from single mineral grains to produce an age. At this scale it is possible to identify different populations of mineral grains within a sample - some of which were bleached at deposition and some which were not. The methods involved in such analyses are discussed, and examples are given of depositional environments where this type of analysis is essential.