Glossary of some common terms used in optically stimulated luminescence, radiocarbon and cosmogenic nuclide dating.
| Aliquot | A sub-sample of the material being measured. |
| Allochthonous | Rocks that have been transported & deposited (inc. erratics, alluvial fans, gelifluction, etc. |
| Attenuation length (Λ) | Thickness of a material (rock, snow, ice) required to attenuate intensity of cosmic-ray flux due to scattering & energy absorption |
| Autochthonous | Rocks that have remained at or near site of formation |
| ΔR | The local variation in the marine reservoir effect from the global average of 400 years. |
| Dipolar | The Earth’s magnetic field is dipolar, with a north and south pole. |
| Dose | The amount of energy stored within a crystal as a result of exposure to radiation. |
| Dose rate | The total radiation dose per unit time that the sample was exposed to during the burial period. Expressed as radiation dose per thousand years (Gy/ky). |
| Equivalent dose | The laboratory estimate of the radiation dose accumulated throughout the burial period in OSL dating of sediments. |
| Galactic cosmic radiation | Energetic particles, mostly of protons, originating from outer space. |
| Gy | Gray, SI unit of radiation dose, used in Optically Stimulated Luminescence dating. I Gy = I J kg-1 |
| IRSL | Infra-red stimulated luminescence |
| Inheritance | Retention of remnant cosmogenic nuclides from a previous exposure |
| Isotopes | Families of nuclides with the same atomic number |
| Marine Reservoir Effect (MRE) | The concentration of radiocarbon differs between the ocean and the atmosphere, with a ‘reservoir’ in the global oceans. This results in an offset in the radiocarbon age of a sample. The global average MRE is 400 years. |
| Muon (µ) | -ve muons: short-lived energetic lepton particles that decay quickly. Can penetrate rocks to depth. |
| Nuclide | Atomic species characterised by a unique number of atomic number and neutron number (e.g., 10Be, which has 4 protons and 6 neutrons) |
| OSL | Optically stimulated luminescence |
| Partial bleaching | Luminescence signals of only a portion of the grains in a sample were fully zeroed prior to burial (typical of glaciofluvial environments) |
| Production rate | Rate at which a specific nuclide is produced from a specified element or in a mineral such as quartz. Vary spatially and temporally. |
| SAR | Single aliquot regenerative-dose (for OSL dating) |
| Spallation reaction | Nuclear reaction resulting from collision of a highly energetic secondary cosmic ray neutron of energy with a target nucleus. |
| Terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide | A nuclide produced by the interaction of secondary cosmic radiation with exposed target atoms in earth-surface materials. |