Wall Street on the Rocks oil painting for sale by Ruth Soller

Last summer during our visit to Canyonlands National Park in Utah we discovered this unusual rock. Drawn to the forms nature had lacquered onto the surface, I perceived Wall Street on the Rocks. Given the turbulent condition of the stock market in recent years, I found this ancient image symbolic. Following is a description of the phenomenon known as desert varnish which produced this design.

Desert varnish is the thin red to black coating found on exposed rock surfaces in arid regions. Varnish is composed of clay minerals, oxides and hydroxides of manganese and/or iron, as well as other particles such as sand grains and trace elements. The color of rock varnish depends on the relative amounts of manganese and iron in it: manganese-rich varnishes are black; manganese-poor, iron-rich varnishes are red to orange; those intermediate in composition are usually a shade of brown. Varnish surfaces tend to be shiny when the varnish is smooth and rich in manganese.

Thousands of years are required to form a complete coat of manganese-rich desert varnish so it is rarely found on easily eroded surfaces. A change to more acidic conditions (such as acid rain) can erode rock varnish. In addition, lichens are involved in the chemical erosion of rock varnish. Source: Wikipedia