The Development of Frost-weathering Microstructures on Sand-sized Quartz Grains: Examples from Poland and Mongolia

Quartz grains, 0.25−1.0 mm in diameter, taken from Pleistocene sands and a palaeo-active layer in Poland (Łodź Teofilow) and from silty-clayey sediments of the contemporary active layer near Ulaanbaatar (Mongolia) were analysed using a scanning electron microscope (SEM). Other analyses included granulometric composition, and frosting and rounding of quartz grains. The effects of frost weathering comprise several microstructures, such as breakage blocks (>10 µm and