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Rock Varnish as Evidence of Climatic Change

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Geomorphology of Desert Environments

Abstract

Rock varnish is a paper-thin coating of up to about 70% clay minerals cemented to the underlying rock by oxides of iron and manganese (Potter and Ross-man 1977, 1979). The distribution, characteristics, and origin of rock varnish are reviewed by Dorn (1991). This chapter presents a review of how rock varnish may be used to reconstruct palaeoenviron-mental fluctuations in alkalinity (Dorn 1984, 1990), dust (Dorn 1986), and stable carbon isotopes (Dorn and DeNiro 1985). Possible new methods are also proposed for reconstructing past geomorphic environments by using fluctuations in lead and ero-sional unconformities within varnish.

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Authors
  1. Ronald I. Dorn
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, State University of New York at Buffalo, 14261, Buffalo, NY, USA

    Athol D. Abrahams

  2. Department of Geography, University of Keele, ST5 5BG, Keele, Staffordshire, UK

    Anthony J. Parsons

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© 1994 Athol D. Abrahams and Anthony J. Parsons

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Dorn, R.I. (1994). Rock Varnish as Evidence of Climatic Change. In: Abrahams, A.D., Parsons, A.J. (eds) Geomorphology of Desert Environments. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-8254-4_20

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-8254-4_20

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-015-8256-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-015-8254-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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