Cave stalactites can be a unique archive for researching historical climate fluctuations – this has been shown by a team from KIT and Heidelberg University with other partners.
The researchers analyzed the isotopic composition of oxygen in the stalactite limestone of the small Devil’s Cave in Bavaria.
![Dragon cave in Mallorca. Photo Yikrazuul CC BY-SA 3.0 Dragon cave in Mallorca. Photo Yikrazuul CC BY-SA 3.0](https://www.techfieber.de/green/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Greentech-Science-KIT-Klima-Hoehle-Stalagmites_and_Stalactites_in_the_Caves_of_Drach-1-1-scaled.jpg)
For example, they were able to draw conclusions about precipitation from the deposits and assign it to a specific time. According to the researchers, just a few centimeters of cave rock can provide information about the climatic conditions of thousands of years.
They report their results in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters.
![Greentech Science KIT Climate Cave Kevin Knezic via Unsplash](https://en.greentech.live/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Greentech-Science-KIT-Climate-Hoehle-Kevin-Knezic-via-Unsplash-800x800-1.jpeg)