Speleothems and climate: a special issue of The Holocene

Speleothems (cave dripstones) are formed as a part of the meteoric water cy cle and therefore variations in their growth rare and composition reflect e nvironmental changes on the land surface above the cave. Since they are con tinental deposits. and possess a remarkably accurate dating potential, usin g TIMS U-series techniques, speleothems are important palaeoclimatic archiv es for the terrestrial environment, complementing the marine and ice-core r ecords, The climatic proxies that can be deciphered from speleothems are gr owth rate, stable isotope composition (delta(18)O, delta(13)C), organic (hu mic) matter and trace element composition, as well as luminescent laminae, which may display annual rhythms. The nine papers in this special issue of The Holocene present the latest results in palaeoclimatic analysis from spe leothems.