Wetter and cooler late Holocene climate in the southwestern United States from mites preserved in stalagmites

The presence of at least 12 species of well-preserved mites in two late Hol ocene stalagmites from Hidden Cave, Guadalupe Mountains, New Mexico, depict s changing climate over the past 3200 yr, Growth of both stalagmites, deter mined by uranium-series dating, occurred from at least 3171 +/- 48 yr ago a nd ceased by 819 +/- 82 yr ago. Some of the 12 subfossil genera and species in the stalagmites are like those currently found in wetter and cooler cli mates, northern-like, and distinctly different from those known in the cave (n = 16) and on the surface immediately around the cave (n = 32), The mism atch of genera and species in the stalagmites, cave, and surface near the c ave argues for a wetter and cooler late Holocene climate in the southwester n United States from ca, 3200 to 800 yr ago.