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Thermoluminescence dating of sand dunes in Rajasthan, India

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Abstract

We report here a new application of thermoluminescence (TL) for dating sand dunes. This application assumes that exposure to sunlight causes bleaching of the geological TL of a sediment to a residual value and that TL accumulation starts again when the sediment is buried under fresh deposit and is thus shielded from the Sun. Although the TL method has been applied to loess1,2 and ocean sediments3,4, the application of this technique to sand dunes provides the first reliable dating control for dune dynamics, palaeoclimatology and spread of deserts.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad, 380009, India

    A. K. Singhvi, Y. P. Sharma & D. P. Agrawal

  2. Department of Physics, Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra, India

    Y. P. Sharma

Authors
  1. A. K. Singhvi
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  2. Y. P. Sharma
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  3. D. P. Agrawal
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Singhvi, A., Sharma, Y. & Agrawal, D. Thermoluminescence dating of sand dunes in Rajasthan, India. Nature 295, 313–315 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1038/295313a0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/295313a0

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