Abstract
In Ge gamma-ray spectrometry for the annual radiation dose determination in the luminescence dating of sediments, the picture of 226Ra enrichment or depletion (in the 238U decay series) obtained via measurement of its 214Pb and 214Bi daughters may be disturbed by the 222Rn-content of the sample being decreased due to manipulations such as drying and pulverizing. Therefore, it is common practice to start the measurement only about 1 month after encapsulating the material, after which the 226Ra(1600 a)-222Rn(3.82 d) mother-daughter equilibrium is re-established. Evidently, this only holds on condition that no significant escape of Rn occurs out of the sediment after making it up for counting. In order to experimentally investigate this effect, in the present work measurements were carried out with various types of dried and pulverized sediments that were either encapsulated in screw-cap polystyrene vials or in sealed glass containers, or that were mixed with molten wax followed by solidification in a cylindrical geometry. From the results obtained, it could be concluded that preparation and counting of the sediment-wax mixture is the method of choice.
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