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Desert Pavement

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  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Planetary Landforms

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Definition

Stone-covered landscape surfaces consisting of a continuous layer of interlocking particles overlying an essentially stone-free layer of finer materials.

Synonyms

Desert armor; Gibber (in Australia) and serir (in central Sahara); Stone pavement

Description

A surface with continuous cover of coarse, angular-to-subrounded rock fragments on stable undissected portions of alluvial fans, terraces, and the valley floors, arranged in such a way as to make a smooth and interlocking surface (Laity 2008; Fig. 1). Desert pavement rock fragments are often coated with desert varnish. Characteristically, gravels are one or two stones thick and sit on a mantle of finer stone-free material (Mabbutt 1977).

Desert Pavement, Fig. 1
figure 454 figure 454

Desert pavement Cima Volcanic Field (Photo by J. Dixon)

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geosciences, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, 72701, USA

    John C. Dixon

Authors
  1. John C. Dixon
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to John C. Dixon .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. NASA Ames Research Center/NPP, Moffett Field, CA, USA

    Henrik Hargitai

  2. Konkoly Thege Miklos Astronomical Institute, Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences, Budapest, Hungary

    Ákos Kereszturi

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Dixon, J.C. (2015). Desert Pavement. In: Hargitai, H., Kereszturi, Á. (eds) Encyclopedia of Planetary Landforms. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-3134-3_125

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