Change is the only constant - time-dependent dose rates in luminescence dating

Time-dependent changes in dose rates generally need to be considered in luminescence dating due to the dynamic character of the geosphere. Nevertheless, this aspect is rather marginally treated in the literature. The present paper describes the methodology of including temporal variations of overburden, moisture content and radionuclide activity into the calculation of dating results. Consideration of possible occurrences of variable dose rates has consequences for fieldwork procedures as well as for the choice of appropriate methods of radionuclide determination. A program code for age calculation by luminescence methods called ADELE v2017 is presented which implements several examples of temporal dose rate variations and layered structures with inhomogeneous distribution of dose rate relevant elements. The impact of variable dose rates on age data is illustrated by applying ADELE v2017 to several case studies.