I knew we sprayed bananas and tomatoes to ripen during transit to market but never figured plants used the same technique to delay a process (spraying the ground with an oil) to retard seed germination until it rains. Pretty neat if I read the article correctly.
I don't think that the article infers that but it could be a plausible explanation for the effect of the oil seeping out but it could also be that the moisture seeps out first and then when there is none left the oil seeps out as a last resort.
