Paleotempestology, the study of ancient storms, aims to understand the causes of storminess by analyzing records of prehistoric storm activity. Frappier et al. present a new tool for paleotempestology that relies on evidence of hurricane rainfall preserved in caves. Although cave formations (stalagmites) grow relatively slowly, the researchers used a high-precision computer-controlled sampling device to extract an approximately weekly to monthly record of climatic variability from a Belize stalagmite, including individual historical hurricane events. This new technique has the potential to shed new light on hurricane-climate interactions by enabling the reconstruction of storm frequency and intensity even farther in the past than was previously possible. -Geological Society of America
Posted January 27th, 2007 by harminka
