After a scenic 50 mile ride this weekend, I was cleaning up my bike on the stand. I'd popped off the front wheel to get at the brakes when I noticed some scratches on the inside of my fork - basically the path the tire rotates along.

I have to assume over time, chunks of gravel or other debris have caught a ride up on a tire and done this. These are scratches, not gouges, or cracks. To be safe, I put on a coat of clear nail polish.

What I'm really wondering, and the reason I'm posting in this forum - is this an inevitable disadvantage of a carbon fork for LD riding? I hit a lot of country roads, and my steel frame gets dinged up on the under side of the down tube and stays. I clean it up and watch for rust, but that's not a structural risk.

If I hit a light patch of gravel wrong, could it end my fork? I'd never even considered this as a failure scenario before now.

Just curious if the veteran LD riders here have any wisdom on the matter.
Thanks.