Metallic adhesion brought about through the normal compression of two real surfaces is considered. The growth of the real area of contact caused by the impressed load results in die plastic deformation of asperities even before plastic macro-deformation is initiated. The size distribution of the asperities is Gaussian, hence some contact points supporting the load will have experienced heavy deformation while others may have only received weak elastic interactions. The rate of dispersal of the contaminant barrier which inhibits high adhesion strengths has been shown to be a function of the degree of substrate deformation irrespective of the amount or the character of the contaminating layer. The mechanism of metallic adhesion, therefore, is directly dependent on the available energy inputs to the interface, e.g., mechanical, thermal, etc., which can bring about complete dispersal of the interfacial contaminants. At normal compressive loads, when the real area of contact is small compared to the nominal area of contact, the system must be considered a multipoint contact problem with the resistance to fracture of each point contact dependent on the prior history of that point. © 1969 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. All rights reserved.