The Department of Geography this week played host to the UK Luminescence Conference (UKLUM18). Organised by Professor Mark Bateman and Professor Ed Rhodes, over 60 delegates from 10 countries took part in Sheffield in the two-day conference.
Luminescence dating has become a widely adopted technique for finding the age of landscapes and the features and sediments within them, as well as for archaeological sites.
Some of the new and exciting research presented at UKLUM18 focussed on new instruments for measuring luminescence or environmental dose rates. Other research revealed results of new experiments aimed at better understanding the solid state physics behind the phenomenon of luminescence.
Delegates also presented dating research which ranged from trying to better understand the recurrence of earthquakes and debris flows, to the age of raised beaches related to past sea level changes, to when/how desertification has affected landscapes. Whilst dating of sediments has been long established, the application of the technique to rock surfaces is opening up a wide range of exciting new potential research areas, from understanding long-term landscape uplift and erosion to being able to date pebbles in sediment, in order to find the age of past glaciations or sea level changes.
At the conference end, Martin Autzen received the prize for the best student poster presentation, whilst Svenja Riedesel and Priscila Souza shared the prize for the best student oral presentation.