Desert Varnish, Antarctica Style

This photograph highlights the oxidized surface of diorite boulders, exhumed by sublimation from the underlying ice of the Mullins Glacier in Beacon Valley, Antarctica. The morphology of the varnish and desert pavement of this unique environment are remarkably similar to the classic desert pavements of the hot deserts of the world, invoking a uniformity of process. A desert is a desert, perhaps.