Desert Rock Coatings

Dorn, Ronald I.

doi:10.1007/978-1-4020-5719-9_7

Cited by 43 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 190 publications

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“…Carbonate skins and salt crusts are also important in some localities. For further information see Dorn (1998Dorn ( , 2007Dorn ( , 2009.…”

Section: General Controls On Formationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…in subsoil environments or fissures and are 'exhumed' during soil erosion or rock spalling; these coatings are not considered here. During the initial stages of development, faster-growing coatings will tend to dominate over slower-growing types (Dorn, 2009). In many environments, this means that lithobiontic coatings (e.g.…”

Section: General Controls On Formationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In many cases, constituent availability may directly determine the type of coating that develops (Dorn, 1998). For example, Fe-and Mn-rich water flowing over a rock face may result in the formation of a heavy metal skin rather than rock varnish (Dorn, 2009), since a supply of clay minerals (often absent from such waters) is essential to the development of a varnish (Potter and Rossman, 1977).…”

Section: General Controls On Formationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The released Mn is then fixed in clays following the evaporation of surface water or a further change in pH. Dorn (1989Dorn ( , 2007Dorn ( , 2009) presents a detailed critique of this model, identifying a number of features of varnishes that are inconsistent with a purely abiotic origin. First, in addition to occurring in deserts, varnishes are found in environments that are too wet and acidic to oxidise Mn (Dorn, 1998).…”

Section: Coating Descriptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Desert Crusts and Rock Coatings

Nash

2011

Arid Zone Geomorphology

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“…Carbonate skins and salt crusts are also important in some localities. For further information see Dorn (1998Dorn ( , 2007Dorn ( , 2009.…”

Section: General Controls On Formationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: General Controls On Formationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: General Controls On Formationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Coating Descriptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Desert Crusts and Rock Coatings

Nash

2011

Arid Zone Geomorphology

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“…The petroglyphs (see Figure 2 as an example) on the Burrup Peninsula are carved into the rock varnish of the parent granophyre and gabbro igneous rocks. Rock varnish usually forms very slowly, at a rate of 1-10 mm per thousand years, particularly in arid desert environments where rainfall is low 3,4 . At its most basic rock varnish can be described as a dark coloured coating with thickness that seldom exceeds 200 mm that is composed mostly of Mn and Fe oxides that are cemented to clay minerals in a laminated structure 3 .…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Rock-art microbiome: influences on long term preservation of historic and culturally important engravings

et al. 2018

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The Burrup Peninsula in north-west Western Australia is home to one of the most substantial collections of rock engravings, or petroglyphs, in the world. These petroglyphs are carved through the dark coloured patina, commonly referred to as rock varnish, into the weathering rind of the local parent rock. Rock varnish is essentially a thin layer of manganese (Mn) and iron (Fe) oxides and hydroxides with embedded clay minerals, the formation of which is relatively poorly understood. It is generally considered to be a hostile environment for microorganisms due to extreme environmental conditions including low nutrient availability, lack of water, exposure to extreme ultraviolet radiation and intense seasonal and diurnal temperature fluctuations. However, despite these environmental extremes, microorganisms have been found on and in rock varnish and have been reported as playing a significant role in the formation of rock varnish. Given this, it is likely that any change in local environmental conditions will influence the types and activities of microorganisms found in and on rock varnish and associated rock art. This article focuses on the major influences on the microbiome of culturally important rock art in the Burrup Peninsula and the implications of any environmental change on the rock art itself.

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Dating Rock and Desert Varnish

Liu

2018

The Encyclopedia of Archaeological Sciences

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Dating surface geoarchaeological features such as stone artifacts, petroglyphs, and geoglyphs in arid to semiarid deserts has proved very difficult. Conventional dating methods like radiocarbon cannot be applied to these rock features owing to the lack of datable material. Cosmogenic radionuclide methods may be useful by yielding maximum‐limiting surface exposure ages, but they often consume a large quantity of rock, which is destructive and therefore unsuitable when dating geoarchaeological features. Varnish microlamination (VML) dating is a climate change‐based correlative age determination approach. It differs in principle from other yet controversial varnish‐based methods such as cation ratio and accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon dating of subvarnish organics. It needs only a tiny piece of varnish‐coated rock for VML analysis, which makes the technique most suitable for dating surface geoarchaeological features in drylands.

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Desert Rock Coatings

Cited by 43 publications

References 190 publications

Desert Crusts and Rock Coatings

Desert Crusts and Rock Coatings

Rock-art microbiome: influences on long term preservation of historic and culturally important engravings

Dating Rock and Desert Varnish

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