Stalagmites speak of climate history

Some of the interesting features of certain caves are stalactites and stalagmites, the column-like features that hang down from the ceiling and are built up from the floor. Humans have known of their existence since time immemorial, but it’s only in recent years we’ve realized they have a story about climate to tell us.

As reported recently in Science Express, researchers led by a team at the Georgia Institute of Technology studied four stalagmites from Borneo. The stalagmites are made of calcite, a relatively soft mineral made of calcium, carbon and oxygen. It’s estimated that the stalagmites...