A desert pavement, also known by regional names such as reg, serir, gibber, hamada, or sai, is a desert surface covered with closely packed, interlocking rock fragments of pebble and cobble size, often forming the cap of an alluvial fan. Over time a dark coating called desert varnish accumulates on the exposed rock surfaces. Because this armored surface takes a long time to develop, geologists use its presence as an indicator of how arid an area is and of the relative age of the land surface beneath it.
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