AUTO-REGENERATIVE THERMOLUMINESCENCE DATING USING ZIRCON INCLUSIONS

Fired ceramics containing zircon inclusisons have been dated by allowi ng the zircons to regenerate their own thermoluminescence (TL) signal, hence auto-regenerative TL dating. The technique is conceptually stra ightforward. One first measures the TL accrued since the last heating of the material. The zircon grains are then stored for six months and the TL signal regenerated through self-irradiation is measured. Since the internal dose-rate for zircon is dominated by the internal compone nt the age of the sample is simply given by the ratio of the natural t o auto-regenerated signal times the laboratory storage period. The tec hnique, however, requires the measurement of a very small auto-regener ated signal, which introduces a number of experimental and physical co mplications. The methods for overcoming these problems and successfull y dating zircons by auto-regeneration are described.