It is available for Macintosh and Windows on Apple Computer's Starcore label. For decades, scientists have relied on radiocarbon dating techniques to study ancient natural events and to determine ages of geological specimens. Now, luminescence-sediment dating, which measures how many years have elapsed since mineral grains were last exposed to sunlight, is allowing earth scientists and paleontologists funded by the NSF to reach farther back in geologic time. For the first time, inorganic materials can also be dated because the technique is effective on mineral grains once exposed to light. At the E.L. Cord Laboratory of the Desert Research Institute in Reno, Nevada, scientists are examining grains of sand up to 800,000 years old to help determine past climates.
Darkness is crucial to the luminescence dating technique.
Then particular grains of sand were taken from the sample and deposited onto a tiny metal disc, which was placed inside the luminescence-measuring device. Finally, data were sent to a computer, which calculated the age of the sand grains. The technique is expected to be particularly useful to scientists studying past climate change.