<HTML>Claire,
I'll second the comments by Garrett, Mikey, Martin and John (sounds like members of a rock group [oops, sorry]). But would like to add a final note -it doesn't matter what kind of scientist does the science, what matters is their methodology - will it ask the right kind of data to answer the right question.
During my debate with Colin, we came to the conclusion that to settle this there were a number of lines of investigation we could follow. We discovered that some of the data we wanted was available (mostly weather records and current environmental conditions in the Sphinx enclosure). However, no one has looked at this data while doing research designed to determine the "prime mover" of particulates/cements from the limestone. In other words, the people who had collected the data were trying to answer the "wrong" questions.
Colin and I also agreed that additional data would be required - mostly on the details about the nature of the limestone itself.
Questions like: How much and what kinds of salts are present? We also decided that some real life modelling would be useful - exposing samples of the limestone to cycles of wetting/drying. Colin is curious about how groundwater moves at Giza. Installing a peizometer or two (actually - the more the merrier) would generate this kind of data.
What I'm getting at here is that right now we have no numbers to crunch (at least the geologists don't - IV Dynasty pottery sherds ARE data). Once we have numbers, then we get away from "looks like" arguments. We'll know (or can predict through chemical analysis) what rain splash does to the rock by measuring the amount of limestone it removes (or would be expected to remove) over a given period of time. We'll know what SCrySIE does using the same methods. Same for sheetwash. There is no limit to the amount of data we can collect - as long as someone is willing to pay for it (and the Egyptian authorities give their blessing to the field methods). Until this kind of data is collected and interpreted, we are all essentially blowing smoke.
And this is really where Colin and I left it - I'm not convinced by his smoke and he's not convinced by others' smoke that I collected. He's trying to generate enough interest in this subject to put together a field trip (data collection) to Giza. Wish him luck and offer your support. It will surely be more productive than Bauval's dog and pony show.</HTML>
