text: On metal, patina is a coating of various chemical compounds such as oxides, carbonates, sulfides, or sulfates formed on the surface during exposure to atmospheric elements (oxygen, rain, acid rain, carbon dioxide, sulfur-bearing compounds). In common parlance, weathering rust on steel is often mistakenly referred to as patina. Patina also refers to accumulated changes in surface texture and color that result from normal use of an object such as a coin or a piece of furniture over time.
  Archaeologists also use the term patina to refer to a corticated layer that develops over time that is due to a range of complex factors on flint tools and ancient stone monuments. This has led stone tool analysts in recent times to generally prefer the term cortification as a better term to describe the process than patination.
  In geology and geomorphology, the term patina is used to refer to discolored film or thin outer layer produced either on or within the surface of a rock or other material by either the development of a weathering rind within the surface of a rock, the formation of  desert varnish on the surface of a rock, or combination of both. It also refers to development as the result of weathering of a case-hardened layer, called cortex by geologists, within the surface of either a flint or chert nodule.