The DRI Luminescence Research Laboratory (DRILL) Services

If you are interested in submitting samples to DRILL for analysis, contact drill@www-dev.dri.edu and provide a brief description of your sampled sites (i.e., geomorphic or archaeological context), the number of samples to be analyzed, the type of samples (e.g., pottery or fluvial, aeolian or colluvial deposits, etc.), and what research question you intend to address with luminescence ages. We charge on a per project basis and our turn-around time varies from ~4 months to ~1.5 years depending on our queue. We will organize a short virtual meeting to discuss your project and make sure we can meet your needs, and provide a sample kit (tubes, black plastic, etc.) as well as sampling instructions.

Capabilities:

Quartz Dating

• • • Multi-grain aliquot or single-grain dating
    • Blue (or blue-green) continuous wave (CW) OSL
    • Linearly-modulated (LM-) OSL and signal deconvolution
    • Thermally-transferred (TT-) OSL for late-mid Pleistocene samples
    • Red-enhanced TL (RTL)
    • Thermoluminescence dating

Feldspar Dating

• • • Multi-grain aliquot or single-grain dating
    • Multi-grain aliquot or single-grain anomalous fading measurements
    • Multi-grain aliquot or single-grain anomalous fading corrections
    • Traditional infrared (IR) stimulated luminescence dating (IR stimulation at 50°C)
    • Post-IRIR or Multi-Elevated Temperature (MET-IRSL) dating
    • Post-Isothermal IRSL
    • Thermoluminescence dating

Rock/Bedrock Measurements

• • • Rock/bedrock burial dating
    • Rock/bedrock exposure dating

Pottery Dating

• • • Pottery sherds

Bricks or Building Materials

• • • Dating of building materials, including rock constructions, bricks, or clay-fired shingles where possible

Ancillary Services:

• • • Measurement of sample-specific alpha (a-value) efficiency values for fine-grain sediment or sediments not etched using HF acid

Gamma Spectrometry

• • • Portable gamma spectrometry measurements at the sample site
    • Lab-based gamma ray measurements of U-238 and Th-232 and associated daughters, and K-40.
    • Measurement of Cs-137

Alpha/Beta Counting

• • • Sample alpha/beta dose rate determination