• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.41-54
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• 2012

The weathering process of rocks leads to the reduction of geotechnical bearing capacity. The weathering of granite is frequently used to refer to the degradation of geotechnical property in the design and construction of infra-structure. In this study, the range of values of CIA (chemical index of alteration) and the change of mineral compositions by weathering have been analysed with igneous rock, which covers 45.5% in South Korean territory. Several weathering indices were studied for various rocks found in Korea and significant relationships between different indices were delineated via statistical analysis. The applicability of CIA was found to be the most significant among all weathering indicies. The composition of illite, the secondary weathering residual, generally increases for the felsic rock, and swelling clay material is not included. The weathering of felsic rock will follow a sequential process, starting from bed rock, illite, and chlorite to kaoline. The mafic rock will show weathering process, from bed rock, smectite, and chlorite to kaoline. The intermediate rocks such as andesite and tuff will show similar weathering procedure and the composition of kaoline, chlorite, and smectite tends to increase more than that of illite when the mafic rock is dominated. This means the increase of rock material which has high CEC (cation exchange capacity) during secondary weathering process. However, the characteristics of a specific rock cannot be completely analyzed using merely CIA, since it is exclusively based on chemical composition and corresponding alteration. The CIA can be used to quantify the weathering process in a limited range, and further considerations such as rock composition, strength characteristics will be required to configure the comprehensive weathering impact on any specific region.