Carbonate isotope data from Pippikin Pot, Lancashire from a Stalagmite collected in November 2000

This dataset describes a Holocene sequence of oxygen and carbon isotopes from speleothem carbonate. Stable isotope measurements were determined to allow the reconstruction of changes in temperature and air mass trajectory, and hence also atmospheric circulation. Stalagmite YD01 was collected in November 2000 from the unnamed chamber between Dusty Junction and Red Wall Chamber (British Cave Research Association Cave Survey; Red Rose Cave and Pothole Club), Pippikin Pot (54˚12'51.60'N, 2˚30'44.29'W), a cave in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, close to the border between Lancashire and Cumbria. Sample YD01 was found intact, lying on the cave floor, in a small enclave containing a number of actively growing stalagmites fed by straw stalactites. The sample was taken to Liverpool University for sectioning, polishing and the initial, low-resolution, stable isotope work. In 2001, stable isotope samples were extracted at 2-3 mm resolution using a diamond-tipped drill bit and organic material was removed using a plasma asher. Carbon and oxygen isotope measurements were made using an ISOCARB common acid bath auto-preparation device and a VG SIRA mass spectrometer. Subsequent high-resolution stable isotope measurements were extracted at 150 μm resolution using a Merchantek Micromill at UCL in 2005, prior to analysis at the University of Liverpool in the summer of 2006. A chronology for YD01 was provided by spline-fit age modelling applied to U-Th dates undertaken on the speleothem carbonate. U-Th dating and age modelling were undertaken by Phil Hopley and David Richards at the University of Bristol. Uranium and Thorium were extracted and separated using column chemistry in a clean lab and isotope ratios were measured on a Thermo Scientific Neptune MC-ICP-MS at the University of Bristol.