The relationship between physical and chemical weathering indices of granites around Seoul, Korea

Abstract

In order to assess the relationship between chemical weathering indices and physical properties of granite, physical and chemical analyses were performed on both natural and artificially weathered granite samples from the Seoul area, where the pH of the rainfall occasionally drops to below 5. The results suggest that slake durability, uniaxial compressive strength, Ruxton ratio, Parker index, modified weathering potential index, chemical alteration index and loss on ignition effectively revealed changes of the degree of chemical weathering. However, the study showed no such good correlation between chemical and physical properties except dry density against loss on ignition and modified weathering potential index against uniaxial compressive strength. It is recommended that both physical and chemical indices should be used for the classification of weathering grade for the granites in the Seoul area.