Abstract
Strongly weathered granitic rocks are widely distributed in the south-eastern part of the Ganghwa island. Kaolinite developed during intense weathering on this granitic rocks have been studied mineralogically and chemically. Various weathering indexes were ca1culated on the basis of oxide. Those indexes are slightly varied with depth. It shows that the percentages of $Al_2O_3$ increase but that of $CaO+Na_2O+K_2O$ decrease as the weathering progress. These results indicate that day minerals, mainly kaolinite with the appreciable amount of halloysite, were formed by the weathering of feldspars in the granitic rocks. X-ray diffraction, differential thermal analysis, infrared spectrometry and electron microscopy were used to characterize and estimate crystallinity of the kaolinite. Generally, Kaolinite shows a less sharp basal reflection and relatively low dehydroxylation temperature, indicating disordered kaolinite. They usually occur aggregates as a vermicular kaolinites showing loose basal plane stacking arrangement.