Optically stimulated luminescence properties of natural schist

Schist is a common siliciclastic geological material that has been extensively used in buildings as brick, tile and roofing slates. Its use, especially in the Mediterranean sea is widespread through the centuries. There are various examples from the ancient Greece, such as monuments from Knossos, Karthaia, as well as from modern Greece, such as traditional houses, etc. Schist is a metamorphic crystalline rock composed largely of silicon minerals, such as quartz, muscovite mica and feldspars. The type and composition of schists, as well as, the concentration of each mineral depends strongly on the type and the origin of the schist. Its past and modern use makes it a suitable candidate for archaeological dating, as well as, for retrospective dosimetry purposes. In the present work a preliminary characterization of schist is performed in order to investigate if some basic properties required for dating applications can be found in this material. The preliminary study concerns the optical stability, the sensitization and linearity of the Infrared Stimulated Luminescence (IRSL) resulting from feldspars, as well as the post IR Blue Optically Stimulated Luminescence (post – IR Blue OSL) resulting mostly from quartz. The results indicate that both signals are rapidly bleached when the sample is exposed to sunlight. The dose response was found to be linear for radiation doses at least up to 75 Gy for the IRSL signal and at least up to 25 Gy in the case of post – IR Blue OSL. The use of a single aliquot measurement protocol, due to the lack of sensitisation, extends the latter dose response linearity region up to 75 Gy for the post – IR Blue OSL signal of schist. Finally, the application of the double single-aliquot regenerative-dose protocol to schist was investigated, in order to recover, successfully, the equivalent dose in 4 – 11 μm grains of the compound.