2026-10-14T20:02:18Z https://api.figshare.com/v2/oai

oai:figshare.com:article/34007344 2026-09-28T02:18:40Z category_7 category_8 category_272 category_873 category_39 category_45 category_734 category_61 category_64 category_69 category_106 portal_87 item_type_3 month_year_09_2026

From bedrock to rock varnish: a comprehensive microstructural and geochemical characterisation of the rocks of Murujuga (Western Australia) T. Tacchetto (25118428) K. Evans (2306263) J. Alfing (25118431) P. Kinny (25118434) R. A O’Leary (25118437) B. J. Mullins (25118440) G. Aubrey (25118443) Medicine Microbiology Environmental Sciences not elsewhere classified Chemical Sciences not elsewhere classified Ecology Sociology Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified Developmental Biology Cancer Inorganic Chemistry Science Policy Rock art Murujuga rock varnish weathered rind weathering porosity <p>Murujuga (Burrup Peninsula, Western Australia) is home to one of the largest and significant collection of petroglyphs on Earth. Here, the landscape is dominated by exposed Archean lithologies, characterised by rugged rock piles and featuring patina formed over hundreds of thousands to millions of years. The outer surface of the Murujuga rocks is a thin layer of dark-brown to reddish rock varnish. Rock art was engraved onto the rocks by removing the rock varnish to reveal the underlying paler weathered rinds. This study presents a detailed microstructural and geochemical characterisation of the five main lithologies outcropping at Murujuga bearing rock art (granite, granophyre, gabbro, dolerite and basalt) along with their rock varnish. Using a suite of analytical techniques, this study provides a comprehensive microscale description of the relationships between rock, weathered rind and surface rock varnish at Murujuga. The findings indicate that physical and chemical weathering processes alters pre-existing rock-forming minerals to develop weathered rind and micro-porosity that facilitate formation of rock varnish but ultimately contributes to its instability.</p> <p>Comprehensive characterisation of Murujuga rock art substrate and rock varnish</p> <p>Weathering rinds and micro-porosity develop during mineral alteration</p> <p>Weathering processes promote rock varnish formation but contribute to its long-term instability</p> 2026-09-28T02:18:40Z Dataset Dataset 10.6084/m9.figshare.34007344.v1 https://figshare.com/articles/dataset/From_bedrock_to_rock_varnish_a_comprehensive_microstructural_and_geochemical_characterisation_of_the_rocks_of_Murujuga_Western_Australia_/34007344 CC BY 4.0