What micromorphological features of transported mineral grains tell us?

Abstract

The micromorphology of sand grains has been studied by researchers for almost a century, and early on recognizing the relationship between the surface shapes of the grains and the depositional environment. This method is useful for the reconstruction of the transport mode, the environmental conditions and even their change over time. Ideally, it also might help to infer earlier climatic conditions of the source area. The aim of this work is to summarize the knowledge of the surface micro-features of transported grains, and to suggest technical terms in Hungarian. There is a wide potential in this method (concerning e.g. the development of a statistical approach, explanation or the interpretation of the co-presence of morphological features), and there is an increasing interest in the topic worldwide. One of the biggest environmental challenges of our time is the climate change; related to this, we need to know how similar events happened in the past to better understand the current processes. The study of sedimentary particle surfaces can be a valuable addition to the stan dard toolbox of palaeoclimate analysis (e.g. dendrochronology, study of the isotope composition of ice cores).