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

Luminescent organic matter in stalagmites may form annual bands, allowing g rowth 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 u sed to provide a 1100 year high-resolution record of precipitation. The loc ation of the cave means that precipitation is closely linked to the North A tlantic Oscillation, for which a record is also derived. This suggests that changes in the North Atlantic Oscillation state was an important control o n European climate over the past millennium.