Quartzite is one of the most physically durable and chemically resistant rocks found at Earth’s surface. When mountain ranges are worn down by weathering and erosion, less-resistant and less-durable rocks are destroyed, but the quartzite remains. This is why quartzite is so often the rock found at the crests of mountain ranges and covering their flanks as large boulders, or as a surface litter of scree.

Quartzite is also a poor soil-former. Unlike feldspars which break down to form clay minerals, the weathering debris of quartzite is quartz. It is therefore not a rock type that contributes well to soil formation. For that reason it is often found as exposed bedrock with little or no soil cover.