Rock Art Research

The industrial development on Burrup Peninsula (Murujuga) in Western Australia is briefly outlined, and its effects on the large petroglyph corpus present there are described. This includes changes to the atmospheric conditions that are shown to have been detrimental to the survival of the rock art. Effects on the ferruginous accretion and weathering zone substrate on which the rock art depends for its continued existence are defined, and predictions are offered of the effects of greatly increasing pollution levels that have been proposed. The paper concludes with a discussion of recent events and a call for revisions to the planned further industrial development.