[meteorite-list] Desert varnish

From: ajones_at_siliconspace.com <ajones_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 09:50:23 2004
Message-ID: <OFC5A813BF.41943082-ON88256B92.0075E62F_at_siliconspace.com>

Greetings everyone!

I was recently doing a bit of research on desert varnish on boulders &
meteorites and found this information regarding a possible organic origin:

['... desert varnish is formed by colonies of microscopis bacteria living
on the rock surface for thousands of years' (Ronald Dorn and Theodore
Oberlander - Science, Volume 213, 1981)]

I was curious as to whether this theory has wide-spread belief.

Also, is it believed that meteoritic desert varnish is caused by the same
process as terrestial rock desert varnish?

Regards Art
Received on Fri 05 Apr 2002 04:28:52 PM PST