A thousand year speleothem proxy record of North Atlantic climate from Scotland

Luminescent organic matter in stalagmites may form annual bands, allowing growth rate to be precisely determined. Stalagmite growth rate is controlled by precipitation, so annual bands can be used to derive long precipitation records. A continuously banded stalagmite from a cave in NW Scotland was used to provide a 1100 year high-resolution record of precipitation. The location of the cave means that precipitation is closely linked to the North Atlantic Oscillation, for which a record is also derived. This suggests that changes in the North Atlantic Oscillation state was an important control on European climate over the past millennium.