Principal Investigator David McGee
Cave stalagmites offer records of atmospheric circulation and hydrology that combine high temporal resolution (decadal to annual), long temporal coverage (reaching back to several hundred thousand years), spatial distribution across large areas of the continents, and precise chronologies anchored by uranium-thorium dating. Led by the efforts of Ben Hardt, Gabriela Serrato Marks and Irit Tal, we are developing stalagmite records from a variety of regions around the world, including Vietnam, Madagascar, Mexico, Brazil, central Asia and the western U.S. In addition to performing U/Th dating, our lab is also developing precipitation records using trace element ratios in stalagmites.