Plus, these caves have a series of formations, known as speleothems, like stalagmites, scattered at various levels, both above and below present-day sea level, thereby offering a record in the carbonate crust left on them by the lapping waters of sea level over time. ❋ Unknown (2010)
• Stalactite curtains, or "speleothems," that contain a record of past sea level and climate conditions locked in their structures. ❋ Unknown (2010)
Athanasius Kircher wrote about these speleothems—stalactites and stalagmites—in his Mundus Subterraneus, strange subterranean forms made from water seeping through bedrock. ❋ Mira Bartók (2011)
These speleothems originated by water condensation and very slow seepage from wall fractures. ❋ Cherry Adair (2010)
Some useful paleoclimate data can be found in sources as diverse as tree rings, ice cores, corals, lake sediments (including fossil insects and pollen data), speleothems (stalactites etc), and ocean sediments. ❋ Unknown (2009)
Current disturbances include permanent damage to speleothems which are often either broken or become dulled from dirt and repeated touching; graffiti, wondering off-trail, the accumulation of lint and organic litter which causes increased bacterial growth, and the pollution of cave pools by coins and other litter. ❋ Unknown (2009)
The discovery of the world's largest and most diverse collection of bacterially assisted speleothems found in Lechuguilla cave prompted calls for the establishment of a cave research institution which was founded in Carlsbad in 1998 as the National Cave and Karst Research Institute of the NPS. ❋ Unknown (2009)
Lechuguilla Cave is not only the deepest at 494m (1,604 feet) and longest at 193 km (121 miles), but contains the largest collection of hydromagnesite balloon-like formations, subaqueous helictite formations and calcite speleothems. ❋ Unknown (2009)
Several artificial entrances are being refitted with airlocks to prevent microclimatic changes, especially drying, which can harm speleothems and cave organisms. ❋ Unknown (2008)
There are a number of different types of proxy data types in this group including glacial deposits, glacial erosional features, shoreline features, aeolian deposits, lake sediments, relict soil deposits, and speleothems (depositional features like stalactites and stalagmites). ❋ Unknown (2007)
Those proxy data with relatively high decadal or better resolution, such as tree rings, corals, ice cores, historical records, and in some cases speleothems, and lake and marine sediments can be used to reconstruct climate variations over past centuries and, in some cases, as far back as the past two millennia. ❋ Unknown (2007)
Hendy, C.H., 1971, The isotopic chemistry of speleothems, I: The calculation of the effects of different modes of formation on the isotopic composition of speleothems and their applicability as palaeoclimatic indicators, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, vol. ❋ Unknown (2007)
