Optical dating research of quatenary environments

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I am requesting funding to purchase a luminescence dating system for the new purpose-built luminescence dating laboratory in the Geography Department at University College of the Fraser Valley (UCFV) in Abbotsford, B.C. The requested system will be the principal instrument in the laboratory. Luminescence dating, which comprises optical and thermoluminescence dating, is a method used to determine when a natural crystal, like a grain of quartz sand, was last exposed to sunlight. When natural crystals (sand grains) are in the dark, such as is the case when they are buried in a sand dune or some other landform, they absorb energy from their surroundings at a rate that is proportional to the amount of ambient natural radiation. However, if the sand grain is unearthed and exposed to sunlight, it loses the energy it absorbed, and while it does this it emits a faint glow; in other words, it emits "luminescence". Therefore, if sand grains buried in a landform are collected and kept in the dark, this luminescence can be measured in the laboratory by exposing the grains to light of a specific energy (colour). Put very simply, the intensity of the luminescence is proportional to the time that the sand grains have been buried in the landform, which dates its formation. The instrument requested is used to perform experiments to measure this luminescence, and model its response to increasing radiation dose. Sedimentary landforms are invaluable because their character is related to the environment in which they formed, so if we can date how their character has changed in the past (using luminescence dating), then we can learn a lot about how the landscape might adjust to future environmental change (climate change). My current research is focusing on understanding how the landscape in the Fraser and Thompson river valleys of British Columbia adjusted to climatic fluctuations after the last ice age. The instrument requested will also be used to study luminescence phenomena with the goal of fine-tuning the dating techniques.