Optical dating research of quatenary environments

我申请资金购买新的专门建造的发光测年实验室在地理系在弗雷泽山谷大学学院（UCFV）在阿布斯福德，不列颠哥伦比亚省的发光测年系统所要求的系统将是实验室的主要仪器。发光测年，包括光学和热释光测年，是一种用于确定天然晶体（如石英砂颗粒）最后暴露于阳光的方法。当天然晶体（沙粒）处于黑暗中时，例如当它们被埋在沙丘或其他地形中时，它们以与环境自然辐射量成比例的速率从周围环境中吸收能量。然而，如果沙粒被挖掘出来并暴露在阳光下，它会失去它所吸收的能量，而当它这样做时，它会发出微弱的光芒;换句话说，它会发出“发光”。因此，如果将埋在地形中的沙粒收集起来并保持在黑暗中，则可以在实验室中通过将沙粒暴露于特定能量（颜色）的光来测量这种发光。简而言之，发光的强度与沙粒被埋在地形中的时间成正比，这可以确定其形成的时间。所要求的仪器用于进行实验，以测量这种发光，并模拟其对辐射剂量增加的反应。沉积地貌是无价的，因为它们的特征与它们形成的环境有关，所以如果我们可以确定它们的特征在过去是如何变化的（使用发光测年法），那么我们可以了解很多关于景观如何适应未来环境变化（气候变化）的信息。我目前的研究重点是了解不列颠哥伦比亚省弗雷泽和汤普森河谷的景观如何适应上一个冰河时代后的气候波动。所要求的仪器还将用于研究发光现象，目的是微调测年技术。

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.