Other conduction mechanisms such as ions conduction (e.g., VCM-type memristor), metalic conduction (e.g., ECM-type memristor) may also involved in this structure.
One of the unanswered questions in physics has to do with whether or not tunneling currents have anything to do with the functioning of the first commercially viable radio detector, the coherer. While the coherer went out of fashion about 100 years ago, its direct lineal descendants include the MOM diode used for laser heterodyning and the STM (Scanning Tunneling Microscope). It is thought that the metal-oxide-metal junction exists inside coherers, but how they function is still not known. If you are interested, there is a thesis titled "Coherers, a review" on ResearchGate.