Uranium series dating of speleothems, part II: results from the Yorkshire Dales and implications for cave development and Quaternary climates.

Results of dating over 80 stalagmites and flowstones from major Craven cave systems are described and interpreted in terms of speleogenesis and geomorphic development of the Yorkshire Dales. Long term average downcutting rates of 2 to 8 cm 10³yr have been calculated from basal ages of speleothems adjacent to major drainage channels. Extrapolation to valleys outside the caves suggests that the Dales are between one and two Myr old. Periods of high speleothem growth frequency are correlated with Holocene and Ipswichian interglacials and low growth with Late Devensian and Wolstonian glaciations in the British Quaternary record. -Authors