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Durability characteristics of some argillaceous clastic rocks from cold regions are investigated. Two sets of experiments, namely slake durability (wet-dry) and freeze-thaw tests, were conducted on welded tuff, carbonates (limestone and dolomite), sandstone, and schist samples collected from northern parts of Japan and from the higher Himalayas of Nepal. The slaking tests were performed in pure water and seawater as well as in aqueous solution of different salinity. A tendency to decrease in slake durability with an increase in porosity is observed. The results reveal that the slake durability of a rock increases with an increase in the concentration of salt in water. Freeze-thaw experiments conducted on welded tuff and schist reveal that crack initiates earlier but extends slower in schist than in welded tuff and that the tuff deteriorates and wears faster than the schist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]