Stalagmites and stalagtites

Beeb 4 Horizon tonight .. 80,000 years ago these teeth were covered by calcite (stalagmites) .....really

No, I found out this wasn't true many many years ago, you remember we were told at school stalagmites were formed over thousands and thousands years ? .....Some maybe, definately not all. Driving under the old stone victorian railway bridge at the bottom of Richardshaw lane Pudsey guess what was growing down from the underside ?

Then the other night on beeb 4 a programme about the beginings of the industrial revolution showed that canal that navigates along a tunnel where barges were propelled by mens feet pushing against the sides of the tunnel ......guess what was seen ...yep stalatites growing down from the ceiling.

Stone can't be carbon dated and dating growth of stalagtites can be problematical....

( https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-00474-4 ) it's stated that unlike tree rings that are very accurate dating limestone deposits can be very awkward and not exact .........but hey this whole point of view in the programme is based on the 80,000 year old assumption. Suppose thery're incorrect ?

And how to remember which is which? Tights come down!

We did a school trip to a cave in the 70s, and were told that some formed much quicker than others, even in the same cave. And no one is suggesting stone is carbon dated.

You are basically trying to form a strawman argument.

Tights mite come down. ambiguous

Tites hang on tight and mites stand mightily