In the UK, it's not uncommon to find urban stalactites growing in old tunnels. However, in a 15th century battery running under #carlislecastle, I saw my first ever urban *stalagmites*. Complete with active soda straw drips above! (Larissa for scale)

Not saying I'm too attached to my samples, but today I tucked a stalagmite in

Duddo Five Stones, first stone circle I've ever visited! They're made of soft sandstone and the deep vertical erosion rills betray the >4,000 years they've been standing

Unfortunately the sample was found broken (it's from Mongolia, so ice-shattering is common). However, here's a best guess! (Plus, pic of the outside-- its not uncommon to see rippled speleothems in caves, but I never wondered how they'd look in cross-section).

I always knew in theory that a speleothem is a sedimentary rock, but I've never seen a cross-bedded stalactite before 😂

Last year, funds from @quaternaryra.bsky.social helped us reach Khuit agui, a spectactular cave deep within Mongolia's continuous permafrost zone. You can now read about the incredible things we found there in the latest edition of the Quaternary Newsletter: www.qra.org.uk/quaternary-n...

Spent this gorgeous sunny weekend at an SRT training course in the Yorkshire Dales. SRT is how we access deep caves, such as those in northern Mongolia. Have to say the Yorkshire caves are a bit warmer!

Used this gorgeous Sunday weather to go fossicking around Whitley Bay

the tunnel in question. incongruous urban speleothems have to be one of my favourite things about the UK!

found some delightful little stalactites and flowstone (tunnel bacon?) beneath a railway bridge this morning :)

As a speleothem researcher, I don't usually have much to contribute to #FossilFriday. However, I've become quite fond of this fallen stalactite with bat(?) bones embedded in its side. Does this count? 😅

The first step to analysing stalagmites is to cut them open with a wiresaw. You never know what you might get, they're like ancient easter eggs! Here's a little stalagmite I opened yesterday (note the broken top; this cave fills with ice during glacial periods, breaking the speleothems inside)

Sunrise on the Tyne this morning. The windows of this building caught the light, but only in their reflection on the water, making the river look like a portal to a magical alternate dimension... 🧙‍♀️

it's stromatolite sunday here! bitter springs formation, Alice Springs, Central Aus

a little holiday treat: checking out alice springs' 'bat caves', a huge cave formed in the brewer conglomerate, central australia.

Permafrost cracks in the Khuvsgul mountains, north Mongolia #FieldworkFriday

I'm at the @britgeosurvey.bsky.social isotope labs in Keyworth this week, learning how to U/Th date stalagmites! Here were using resin columns to separate U and Th, which will be measured using ICP-MS next week. Lovely folks down here, a great experience so far :)

Something I love about the UK: urban speleothems! Here's some stalactites growing in Victoria Tunnel, Newcastle-upon-Tyne