Sampling speleothems for paleoclimate research is inherently destructive, because sampling must occur down the center of the speleothem (the growth axis). I have been a caver since I was a small child, and I felt myself experiencing an internal conflict between my cave conservation ethic and my desire to learn about past climates. So, it was decided to study this ethical dilemma by surveying paleoclimate scientists and other cave stakeholders, such as managers, owners, cavers, and so forth. The goal of this project is to outline a few best practice guidelines for sampling speleothems for this kind of research.
The preliminary results of these surveys are available by watching this webinar (embedded below); full results will be published in an article in late 2015.
The preliminary results of these surveys are available by watching this webinar (embedded below); full results will be published in an article in late 2015.