The Science and History of Desert Varnish

Rock Varnish | Photo by Eclipse Chasers

You’ve probably seen it before: deep black coatings, rusty-red streaks or even warm brown hues clinging to canyon walls and cliffs. That’s called desert varnish. It’s called rock varnish, too. And this varnish takes its time — millennia, in fact — to develop its signature dark, streaky patina. But what exactly is it, why is it there and why should you care?

A Patina with Patience

Desert varnish is a mysterious, slow-growing surface coating that turns otherwise plain rocks into geological showpieces.

While often linked to dry, desert environments (hence the name desert varnish), rock varnish can actually form in a variety of climates — from arid deserts to temperate regions.

It forms where rocks are exposed to wind, dust and bacteria that help bind manganese and iron oxides to the rock surface. Over thousands of years, these elements build up to create dark coatings, ranging from tan and reddish-brown to jet black.¹

Scientists have identified at least 14 different types of rock coatings, meaning your favorite canyon wall is “rocking” an intricate, multi-layered patina.¹

Desert Varnish on Cliff in Escalante, Utah | Photo by Donald Giannatti

How the Desert Paints Its Rocks

When rock varnish forms, the process goes something like this:

1. Dust and minerals settle on a rock surface thanks to wind and water.
2. Bacteria step in to help bind iron and manganese oxides to the rock.
3. Time, weathering and more time allow the coating to slowly darken and harden, forming that distinctive varnish look. Over the course of 1,000 years, desert varnish builds up at an incredibly slow pace: just 1 to 40 micrometers, which is thinner than a single strand of human hair!²

The varnish’s color depends on its composition:

• Black varnish = more manganese oxide²
• Red or orange varnish = more iron oxide²
• Tan or brown varnish = a mix of both manganese and iron²

So, depending on the local minerals, some rocks end up looking as dark as midnight, while others resemble a high-end, rust-colored leather couch.

Find It in the Canyons and Maybe the Cosmos

Not all rocks get the varnish treatment. It tends to show up on hard, erosion-resistant surfaces, particularly sandstone.

You’ll spot it in places like the Colorado Plateau, the Sahara Desert’s Messak Settafet and just about any scorched canyon wall where water has left streaky trails.^2,3

Scientists have even found potential rock varnish-like coatings on Mars, meaning your favorite desert boulder might have something in common with an alien landscape.²

Many petroglyphs — that is, rock carvings made by indigenous cultures — were created by chiseling away the varnish to reveal the lighter rock beneath. This means desert varnish isn’t just an environmental oddity; it’s also a historical record, preserving the art and messages of people who lived thousands of years ago.

A rockin’ example: New Mexico’s Petroglyph National Monument is home to an astonishing 25,000 rock carvings, created by Puebloan people and early Spanish settlers.¹

Meanwhile, deep in the Libyan Desert, the Wadi Mathendous archaeological site preserves ancient engravings of wildlife that once roamed the region — including rhinoceroses, crocodiles, giraffes and elephants. Estimated to be around 8,000 years old, these intricate petroglyphs offer a glimpse into a time when the Sahara was a wetter ecosystem.³

But rock varnish doesn’t just hold human history. Scientists believe it can capture clues about ancient climates, too. Some researchers suggest that the layering in varnish could reflect past climate conditions, like tree rings but for rocks.⁴ How cool is that? If that turns out to be true, desert varnish might be one of the slowest but most reliable storytellers of Earth’s past.

Petroglyphs Carved on Rock Face, Covered in Desert Varnish | Photo by Lyle Wilkinson

What Rock Varnish Can Teach Us

Besides looking cool and holding ancient secrets, it also shows how life (even microscopic life) can thrive in the harshest environments, transforming landscapes in ways we’re only beginning to understand.

So, next time you’re hiking through the desert and see those dark streaks on a canyon wall, take a moment to appreciate them. Those rocks are natural masterpieces, having been patiently collecting their patina for thousands of years. To sum it up, desert varnish is basically three things: science, history and completely awesome.

Why Wait 10,000 Years?

Natina is your path to a faster patina finish! Our patina coating forms within 4-8 weeks, instead of millennia, and it works great on rocks. It has all the beauty of a natural patina, without the need for extended amounts of time and weather exposure for it to develop.

Contact us  today for expert guidance on planning your next construction project! It may be a “rocky” project, but we’ll make it smooth!

Sources

¹ National Park Service, Desert Varnish

² Colorado.edu, Mystery of Desert Varnish

³ Earth.com, Messak Settafet Plateau in the Sahara Desert

⁴ UC Riverside, The Edge Institute, Desert Varnish Study