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The expression living color took on an entirely new meaning when scientists discovered that the streaks of desert varnish which create magnificent tapestries on canyon walls and cliff faces are, well, alive.

It has long been known that desert varnish is a mix of airborne dust and clay particles left by water dripping down rock faces. But scientists have recently found that these particles are cemented to sandstone walls bacteria and microfungi. Varnishes rich in iron appear dark red or rust colored, while those rich in manganese streaks of black or iridescent blue-black, like a raven's wing.

The visual impact of desert varnish is made even more spectacular by the rich, multi-colored layers of rock it covers; creamy white Navajo, reddish-brown Entrada, or orange-brown Wingate. These rock colors have resulted from the direction the wind was blowing in those long-ago dune fields; western winds carried nearly white quartz particles, while winds from the northeast deposited red sand.

Sand into Stone: In the Jurassic Period, a great sand desert covered all the land from Nevada to Colorado and Wyoming to Arizona. Underneath these white dunes were others, formed earlier and buried when streams and the sea invaded the dune fields. Erosion has subsequently exposed these 150 million year old dunes. Most of the erosion has occurred only in the last two million years or so, making the present perhaps the most scenic period in the Monuments long life. Found in the Grand Staircase National Monument.