LUMINESCENCE SAMPLING OF PALEONTOLOGICAL SITES: WHAT TO KNOW BEFORE, DURING, AND AFTER

Western North America has one of the world’s richest fossil records, encompassing everything from Precambrian microbes to Pleistocene megafauna. How these sites get dated happens in a variety of ways (radiocarbon, radiogenic isotopes, historical or dendrochronology, etc.) but often the on-site scientist does not have easy access to the experts that produce this data. Many site managers will consider using luminescence dating. What should scientists know about the luminescence technique before determining whether the site they have found would be suitable for luminescence dating? What would be important to have at the site and what could be unimportant or missing and still guarantee an effective outcome? When does the complexity in calculating a dose rate preclude meaningful ages for young fossil sites? What does over-dispersion in the equivalent doses of a modern vs. the paleontology record really mean?

Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating has been used successfully in many of the Holocene and Pleistocene aged sites and various case studies to illustrate this point will be presented (Natural Trap Cave of Wyoming, the Mammoth Site of Hot Springs South Dakota, and the Tule Springs Fossil Beds NM near Las Vegas). This presentation will present a short summary and handout suitable for remembering the appropriate steps and procedures for collection of OSL samples and a template will be given for the successful dating paradigm.