clasts near the surface, where there are: a slow rate of chemical weathering, insufficient precipitation to move the large clasts, high velocity winds, conditions favorable to shallow-rooted trees, and trees large enough to embed coarse rock in their roots. Effects Hillslopes with a rock veneer are more stable than those without and have lower erosion rates. Rock veneers form a rocky armor on the hillslope which prevents the erosion of smaller sediments and stabilizes the slope. Rock veneers, forming when influx and outflux sediment rates are equal, indicate a hillslope in equilibrium, partly due to their protective cover on the slope. Erosion rates on veneered hillslopes are low to moderate. Notes Geomorphology