J. Wallinga1*, A.M. de Boer1 , S.G. Pearson2, N. Pannozzo2, A. van der Spek3, Q. Lodder4; B.C van Prooijen2
1 Wageningen University, The Netherlands; 2 Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands; 3 Deltares, The Netherlands; Rijkswaterstaat, The Netherlands.
* Corresponding author: jakob.wallinga@wur.nl
Introduction
Within the NWO funded TRAILS project, we have developed luminescence tracing methods for sand-size grains. The idea of this approach is that nourishment sand carries a different luminescence signal compared to sand that was originally in the coastal system. The grains retain a memory of this 'luminescence fingerprint' even after transport, allowing us to distinguish nourishment grains from natural grains and thereby tracing the pathways of these grains. Although highly challenging, the approach can compliment existing tracing methods (e.g. using magnetic or fluorescing tracers) that can only be employed close to the nourishment source.
Objective and Methods
Within the project, a wide range of experiments were carried out to develop and improve luminescence tracing methods. These include the development of better luminescence detection methods for single grains of feldspar (de Boer, 2024a; 2025), subaquaous exposure experiments to quantify luminescence resetting under water (de Boer, 2024b; in press a), and measurement of samples collected from the sea floor in the Ameland inlet to test whether nourished sand could be distinguished from natural sand (de Boer, in press b).
Results
This work greatly expanded our ability to measure luminescence signals of signal grains of feldspar to fingerprint sediments. The subaquous bleaching experiments quantified the resetting of luminescence signals under water. Such information is crucial to model how luminescence fingerprints change during grain transport. Finally, we showed that luminescence fingerprints of seafloor sediments in the Ameland inlet show clear spatial patterns that relate to the depositional age of the source material of the grains. However, the nourishment sand used for the ebb-tidal delta nourishment turned out to be indistinguishable from the natural grains with the methods used. We conclude that luminescence sediment tracing certainly has potential, but needs further refinement to allow tracing of pathways of nourishment grains.
References
de Boer, A.M., Kook, M., & Wallinga, J. (2024a). Testing the performance of an EMCCD camera in
measuring single-grain feldspar (thermo)luminescence in comparison to a laser-based single-grain
system. Radiation Measurements, 175, 107168.
de Boer, A.M., Seebregts, M., Wallinga, J., & Chamberlain, E.L. (2024b). A one-day experiment
quantifying subaqueous bleaching of K-feldspar luminescence signals in the Wadden Sea, the
Netherlands. Netherlands Journal of Geosciences, volume 103-2024.
de Boer, A.M., Steinbuch, L., Heuvelink, G.N.M., & Wallinga, J. (2025). A novel method to assess
crosstalk in single-grain luminescence detection. Radiation measurements, 186, 107459.
de Boer, A.M., Pannozzo, N., Pearson, S.G., Kooistra, T.J., van Prooijen, B.C., and Wallinga, J. (2026).
Subaqueous resetting of the luminescence clock: bleaching of sand-sized quartz and feldspar in
coastal waters. In press at Scientific Reports.
de Boer, A.M., Pearson, S.G., van der Spek, A., van Prooijen, B.C., and Wallinga, J. (2026).
Luminescence as a tool to reconstruct sediment transport pathways in a tidal inlet. In review at
Marine Geology.
