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An Analysis of Case Hardening Phaedra Culley Geography Department Mesa Community College – Red Mountain Campus Mesa, AZ, 85207 and then Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning School Arizona State University Tempe AZ 85287-5302 1. Introduction to RASI Element: Case Hardening Case hardening occurs when an outer crust or shell forms on the very surface of a rock surface. This protection comes from the addition of hardening agents such as silica and iron to the outer few millimeters of a rock. Figure 1 shows and example of case hardening. Figure 1. This basalt boulder from has an ancient Hawaiian petroglyph carved into a surface protected by case hardening. In this example, silica glaze has moved into the weathering rind and indurated (hardened) the outer shell. The sunglasses provide a sense of scale. This image was taken by R. Dorn and was downloaded from Cerveny et al. (2007). 2. Brief Literature Review of Case Hardening Case hardening is formed by two processes: softening of the inner rock (or core) and hardening of the outer layer. Due to its sedimentary nature, sandstone tends to harden on the outside because of how the grains are held together. When a rock varnish begins to form, much of it can dissolve, and the amalgam of minerals and chemicals re-deposit into the pore spaces (or holes) in outer layer of the sandstone. These agents then begin to harden the exterior of the rock (Boxerman, 2012) (Figure 2). At this point, the rock begins to form the hardened outer shell, and this cycle continues until the stone has a protective coating (Dorn, 2004). Figure 2. Case hardening is associated with a weathering form called tafoni, or holes decayed out of rocks. Tafoni often starts out as alveoli, or smaller holes, that are sometimes seen on petroglyph panels. This is not an image of a petroglyph, but comes from the Lyons Sandstone at Red Rock Canyon, Colorado. Source: Photograph by Brandon Vogt in Boxerman (2012). Other types of rock such