Luminescence chronology and thermometry studies of plant opal phytoliths

In this work we have been investigating the luminescence properties of plant opal phytoliths to assess their suitability for determination of age and/or thermometric information from soil and sediment sequences. Opal phytoliths, or bio-opal, form when monosilicic acid from soil-waters is taken up by plants and chemically altered to silica, producing intra- or extra- cellular structures that give grasses and stems their strength. Opal phytoliths are usually considered to be non-crystalline and referred to as silica mineraloid structures, with ~4-9% water