A comment on ‘a note on the characteristics and possible origins of desert varnishes from Southeast Morocco’ by Drs. Smith and Whalley

✍ Scribed by Ronald I. Dorn

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1989
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 348 KB
• Volume: 14
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0360-1269
• DOI: 10.1002/esp.3290140207

✦ Synopsis

This note queries the discussion of the origins of 'desert varnishes' (Smith and Whalley, 1988), with particular reference to manganese-rich conditions. The case for a biotic model of varnish development is proposed and illustrated as opposed to the abiotic model put forward by Smith and Whalley.