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how long will our impacts last? 22-Dec-2007 At 10:38:32 PM wombly

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Some comments on the ethics thread piked my interest - particulaly those that assumed that the cliffs have been there for "millions" of years before we show up to climb them.

But how long have they really been there? how long does it take for the cliffs to change? This certainly has implications for the longevity of our impacts on cliffs for the future.

From what i've uncovered over the last few months doing a research project identifying landscape change around the sydney basin, There's actually quite a bit of knowlege out there in the geology community that can tell us about this, and it seems to suggest that (unsurprisingly) different areas have different rates. The evidence i've played a part in collecting lately indicates that for the cliffs in the sydney basin (read all the sandstone within a couple of hundred km of sydney town) a metre of rock falls offevery ~10,000 years or so. Hence, most of the important features on the routes in this area probably have probably only been around for a millenia or so. Conversely, it also means that whatever we do to these areas now (i.e. bolt, chip, generally deface) will probably be around for at least a thousand years.

I've not done much research in other areas, but i have read a bit about the area near araps and i wouldn't be suprised if the rates there are orders of magnitude slower.

Anybody else out there who might know more or have something to add here?