Weathering and its relation
to geomechanical properties
of Cavusbasi granitic rocks
in northwestern Turkey
E. Arel á A. Tugrul
Abstract The effect of mainly mechanical weather-
ing on the granodiorites, granites and quartz dior-
ites of the Cavusbasi area of northwest Turkey are
described, the samples having been taken from
cores and ®eld exposures. The primary character-
istics of these rocks are affected by the weathering
process which results in a signi®cant constraint on
their use in engineering works. The tests under-
taken on samples in the various weathering grades
included point load and uniaxial compressive
strength, slake durability, porosity, loss on ignition,
dry and saturated unit weight and water absorption.
A tentative correlation between these properties is
presented.
ReÂsume Les effets de l'alteÂration meÂteÂorique, prin-
cipalement d'origine physique, sur les granodiorites,
granites et diorites quartziques de la reÂgion de
Cavusbasi au nord-ouest de la Turquie sont deÂcrits,
leseÂchantillons provenant de carottes de sondages et
d'af¯eurements naturels. Les proprieÂteÂs principales
de ces roches sont affecteÂes par les processus
d'alteÂration, ce qui limite leur domaine d'utilisation
possible dans les travaux d'ingeÂnierie. Les tests
reÂaliseÂs sur des eÂchantillons preÂsentant divers eÂtats
d'alteÂration comprennent les essais de reÂsistance
entre pointes et compression simple, l'essai
d'alteÂrabiliteÂ, les mesures de porositeÂ, de ``perte au
feu'', de poids speÂci®ques sec et satureÂ, et l'essai
Received: 8 September 2000 / Accepted: 30 October 2000
Published online: 12 April 2001
ã Springer-Verlag 2001
E. Arel
Sakarya University, Engineering Faculty,
Department of Civil Engineering, Esentepe,
54040 Adapazari, Turkey
A. Tugrul (&)
Istanbul University, Engineering Faculty,
Department of Geological Engineering,
Avcilar, 34850 Istanbul, Turkey
e-mail: tugrul@istanbul.edu.tr
Fax: +90-212-5911997
d'absorption d'eau. Des correÂlations entre ces
proprieÂteÂs sont preÂsenteÂes.
Keywords Granitic rocks á Weathering á
Geomechanics á Turkey
Mots cleÂs Roches granitiques á AlteÂration
meÂteÂorique á GeÂomeÂcanique á Turquie
Introduction
Weathering leads to a general weakening of a rock due to
the alteration of minerals, the development of voids and
disintegration (Ebuk et al. 1993). The consequences de-
pend on the mineralogy, microtexture and structure of the
original rock as well as the various processes and rates of
the weathering (Bell 1992). A number of investigators
have studied the effect of weathering on the engineering
properties of granitic rocks (Ruxton and Berry 1967;
Lumb 1962; Dixon 1969; Onodera et al. 1974; Irfan and
Dearman 1978a; Howat 1985; Raj 1985; Lee and de Freitas
1989; Wei and Liu 1990; Zhao et al. 1995; Irfan 1996) and
reported that weathering involves important processes
which alter the original geomechanical properties of a
granitic rock.
The main objective of the present study was to determine
the in¯uence of weathering on the petrographic, chemical,
physical and mechanical characteristics of granitic rocks at
a site in Istanbul in northwest Turkey (Fig. 1). The initial
stages of the investigation involved ®eld description and
collection of representative samples of each of the weath-
ering grades for laboratory study. The sampling was per-
formed where a uniform weathering pro®le was accessible
in road cuts and boreholes. Sampling became progres-
sively more dif®cult as the degree of weathering increased
and considerable care was required in the acquisition of
the samples in order that reliable results could be
obtained. In the laboratory the materials were character-
ised by several methods including optical microscopy,
X-ray diffraction and chemical analyses. In addition, a
series of tests were undertaken to determine speci®c
gravity, dry unit weight, saturated unit weight, water ab-
sorption, effective porosity, total porosity, slake durability
DOI 10.1007/s100640000091 Bull Eng Geol Env (2001) 60:123±133 123
 E. Arel á A. Tugrul

index, point load strength index and uniaxial compressive the greenish-brown andesite dykes common in the study
strength in order to establish relationships between the area generally having a NW±SE trend.
physical and mechanical properties. The most dominant and persistent fault directions are
E±W and NW±SE. The rocks are strongly jointed and rock
masses are locally closely fractured. Usually three or four
major sets of joints are found in the granitic rocks. Some
Geography of these are primary cooling joints, but minor sets or
random joints may also occur. The joint spacing is
The study area in northwest Turkey has an irregular to- between 0.5 and 3 m.
pography, due to both the lithology and tectonics of the
region and the intense constructional activity that has
taken place. The granitic rocks forming the higher and
rounded hills generally trend NW±SE, with joints and General characteristics of the
faults which have in¯uenced the weathering pro®les. Rock Cavusbasi granitic rocks
outcrops are rare except along rivers and deep cuttings.
The average temperature in this region is 13.9 °C, the The Cavusbasi granite is usually light grey and medium to
summers beinghot and humid and the winters mild and coarse grained (2±5 mm in diameter). Petrographic ex-
wet. The precipitation occurs mostly in the form of rain, amination of the rock indicates that the main minerals are
intensifying in the autumn and the winter. The annual feldspar (>60%) and quartz (22±36%). Biotite and horn-
rainfall at the Istanbul (Kartal) observation post is 630 mm blende are also found, with lesser amounts of titanite,
while the annual evapotranspiration for Istanbul is apatite, zircon, epidote and opaque minerals. The rocks
564.6 mm. have a holocrystalline hipidiomorphic texture. Based on
these mineralogical characteristics the rocks are classi®ed
as granite through granodiorite to quartz diorite, accord-
ing to Streckeisen's (1976) classi®cation scheme. Granod-
Geological setting iorite is the most abundant rock type in the Cavusbasi
granitic rocks and this was the rock type tested in this
The study area lies in the eastern part of Istanbul where study.
the rocks were ®rst mapped by Oztunali and Satir (1973)
and formally named Cavusbasi granite (Fig. 1). These
rocks are of Permian age and intrude an Ordovician sed-
imentary sequence. Contact metamorphic rocks form a Weathering
halo around the Cavusbasi intrusive. All the rock se-
quences were later intruded by andesite and diabase dykes, Weathering pro®les were studied in a number of excavated
sections in the study area. The effects of weathering
increase upwards from fresh rock to residual soil. The
weathering of the Cavusbasi granitic rocks is described
following the six-stage classi®cation schemes proposed in
Table 1 (Anonymous 1995).

Table 1
Weathering classi®cation (Anonymous 1995)
Grade Term Typical characteristics

I Fresh rock Unchanged from original state

II Slightly Slight discoloration, slight weakening
weathered
III Moderately Considerably weakened,
weathered penetrative discoloration
Large pieces cannot be broken
by hand
IV Highly Large pieces can be broken by hand
weathered Does not readily disaggregate
(slake) when dry sample
immersed in water
V Completely Considerably weakened
weathered Slakes
Original texture apparent
VI Residual soil Soil derived by in-situ weathering
but retaining none of the
Fig. 1 original texture or fabric
Location of study site

124 Bull Eng Geol Env (2001) 60:123±133

 Weathering and its relation to geomechanical properties

The weathering pro®le varies from place to place. In hilly the principal minerals present are quartz, plagioclase
areas where a complete weathering pro®le exists (Fig. 2) (albite and anorthite), biotite and hornblende, with lesser
the Cavusbasi granodiorite is extensively weathered to amounts of titanite, apatite, zircon and epidote, although
depths of 30 m or more, while in the valleys, fresh rock is the relative proportions of minerals varied depending on
typically encountered at depths of 2±5 m as a result of the weathering stage.
river erosion. In most cases there is a sudden change from According to the microscope studies and XRD analyses,
completely or highly weathered material to slightly there are no important changes in the petrographical and
weathered or fresh granodiorite, the moderately weathered mineralogical composition of the granodiorite due to
layers often being missing. Variations can be attributed to weathering. Changes in composition mainly occur as alb-
the changes in topography, effect of tectonism, rate of itization (replacement of anorthite by albite); asa result of
erosion, groundwater conditions and microclimate over this the volume of plagioclase increases and there is a
very short distances (Arel 1998). higher number of microfractures. This situation can be
The granodiorite is overlain by a thin layer of residual soil. seen clearly in the zoning of the plagioclase (Fig. 3). Some
The thickness of the highly and completely weathered of the microfracturing may also be due to the expansion of
granodiorites is between 10 and 25 m. The position of the biotite resulting from increased interlayer spacing of the
weathering front was controlled by groundwater move- secondary minerals formed in the biotite (Irfan and
ment through the almost vertical orthogonal joints and Dearman 1978b). The number of intergranular and
nearly horizontal joints. transgranular microfractures increases with weathering, an
indication that the nature of the weathering is mainly
physical disintegration.
Chemical analyses on fresh samples as well as those ex-
Petrographic, mineralogical hibiting different grades of weathering were conducted
and chemical characteristics
The petrographic and textural characteristics of the sam- Table 2
ples were studied by optical microscopy. The bulk mineral Petrographic characteristics of granodiorite at various stages of
weathering. (Adapted from Irfan and Dearman 1978b)
composition was determined by X-ray diffraction analysis
(XRD) and the major element oxides by the inductively Weather- Petrographic characteristics Micropetrographic
coupled plasma (ICP) method (Ewing 1987). ing grade index
The mineral grains in the fresh granodiorite were un- I No sign of iron-staining. 8.90
weathered and the grain boundaries tightly welded. The Microfractures are very short,
cause of the microfracturing is attributed to a combination ®ne and intragranular.
of stress relief associated with removal of the overburden Plagioclases are slightly
weathered
and an increase in volume. The stages of weathering in II Formation of simple branched 6.94
terms of the microscopic properties of the rock are given microfractures. Partial staining
in Table 2. Photomicrographs of weathered granodiorites of plagioclases. Grain
are presented in Fig. 3. boundaries are sharp
Mineralogical composition is one of the important prop- III Partial alteration of plagioclases 5.49
to sericite. Formation of single
erties controlling rock strength. XRD analyses of both pores in plagioclases. Grain
fresh and weathered samples of granodiorite indicated that boundaries are tight but
stained brown by iron-oxide.
Rock fabric is highly
microfractured by complex,
branched, transgranular
microfractures
IV Formation of opaque areas in 5.33
plagioclases. Interconnected
pores are formed in
plagioclases. Intense
microfracturing of rock fabric
by a complex, branched and
dendritic pattern of
microfractures. Whole of
rock is iron-stained
V Complete alteration of 5.21
plagioclases. Biotite is partially
and muscovite slightly altered.
Almost all grain boundaries are
open. Fabric is intensely
microfractured by a dendritic
pattern of micro- and
Fig. 2 macrocracks. Highly porous.
Schematic cross section of weathering zones of granodiorite (not to Rock texture is intact
scale)

Bull Eng Geol Env (2001) 60:123±133 125

 E. Arel á A. Tugrul

Fig. 3
Photomicrographs of mineralogy and textural characteristics of
Quantification of degree
granodiorite at various stages of weathering (cross-polarized light).
a 25´ fresh granodiorite texture showing sound minerals with a few
of weathering
microfractures. b 60´ moderately weathered granodiorite showing
plagioclase phenocryst and formation of simple microfractures. c 25´ The degree of weathering is de®ned mainly in relation to
highly weathered granodiorite showing zonal weathering of plagio- mineralogy. There have been several attempts to quantify
clase and transgranular microfractures. d 25´ highly weathered the degree of weathering by using petrographic methods,
granodiorite showing the intense microfractures
e.g. the decomposition index (Lumb 1962), the micropet-
rographic index (Irfan and Dearman 1978b), secondary
mineral ratio (Cole and Sandy 1980) and the petrograph-
(Table 3). The whole-rock chemistry of samples of ical weathering index (Tugrul and GuÈrpinar 1997b). The
weathering stages is presented in Fig. 4. As weathering micropetrographic index suggested by Irfan and Dearman
increases, the amount of SiO2, Na2O and CaO decreases (1978b) is simple and useable. This property was deter-
and that of Al2O3, Fe2O3 and MgO increases. mined at least three times for each sample and arithmetic

Table 3
Chemical analyses (all ®gures in Major element Weathering grade
%) of the major element oxides oxides
I II III IV V VI
undertaken on granodiorite at
various stages of weathering SiO2 66.99 67.30 66.37 65.90 65.69 65.34
Al2O3 16.27 16.37 16.57 16.35 16.22 16.79
Fe2O3 3.20 2.93 2.75 3.18 3.36 3.48
MgO 1.84 1.65 1.61 1.45 1.80 1.69
CaO 4.33 4.08 4.09 4.06 4.07 3.57
Na2O 4.74 4.83 4.84 4.60 4.50 4.37
K2O 1.37 1.38 1.42 1.36 1.29 1.34
TiO2 0.45 0.43 0.41 0.39 0.48 0.48
P2O5 0.15 0.14 0.12 0.15 0.16 0.14
MnO 0.05 0.05 0.05 0.05 0.06 0.05
Cr2O3 0.025 0.026 0.011 0.064 0.034 0.031
LOI 0.7 0.9 1.0 1.5 1.8 2.9
Total 100.12 100.09 99.24 99.63 99.46 100.18

126 Bull Eng Geol Env (2001) 60:123±133

 Weathering and its relation to geomechanical properties

Fig. 4
Whole-rock chemistry of weathered granod-
iorite

averages of the values were applied. The results are given
in Table 2 which shows that the granodiorites range was
from 5±9.
The chemical analyses of rock at the different stages of
weathering identi®ed changes in chemical composition.
Chemical indices are a relatively accurate measure of the
degree of chemical alteration in the rock material.
However, the engineering properties of weathered rocks
are also dependent on the rock fabric and bonding, even
in soil grades (Irfan 1996). Weathering indices developed
by different researchers were used to compare the
weathering grades of the granodiorite. The chemical
indices used were: weathering potential index (Reiche
1943), Ruxton ratio (Ruxton 1968), Parker index (Parker
1970), Vogt ratio (Vogt 1927; Roaldset 1972), modi®ed
weathering potential index (Vogel 1973), chemical alter-
ation index (Nesbitt and Young 1982), chemical weath-
ering index (Harnois 1988) and mobile index (Irfan
1996). Most of these techniques were developed for
igneous rocks, particularly granitic rocks. Chemical
weathering indices developed by different investigators
were calculated using the molecular proportions of each
oxide as described by Barth (1962). The results are given
in Table 4. The weathering potential index trends from
high in fresh granodiorite to low in residual soil; how-
ever, for the chemical weathering index and chemical
alteration index, the opposite prevails. In the modi®ed
weathering potential index, Ruxton ratio, Vogt ratio and
Parker index, there were no consistent increases or de-
creases from fresh granodiorite to residual soil, but the
general trend appeared to be a decrease in the ratios,
except for the Vogt ratio. In addition, the percentage of
loss on ignition obtained from chemical analyses can be
used to determine the degree ofweathering. Loss on ig-
nition (LOI) is the loss in weight of samples after heating
to 1,000 °C. As seen in Table 3, the percentage of LOI
increased with weathering. Only minor changes in the
chemical index values of the granodiorites with weath-
ering were noted.
Slake durability index
Moderately, highly and completely weathered granodiorite
simply disintegrates (slakes) with wetting and exposure.
To quantify this property, slake durability tests were un-
dertaken on samples of moderately, highly and completely
weathered granodiorite using the method suggested by the
International Society for Rock Mechanics (1981). The
results for a number of slaking cycles are shown in Fig. 5.
It can be seen that using the classi®cation schemes of
Gamble (1971) and Franklin and Chandra (1972), the slake
durability index is high for moderately weathered gran-

Table 4
Petrographic and chemical index values for granodiorite at various weathering grades
Chemical index Weathering grade

I II III IV V VI

WPI (weathering potential index) 11.57 10.35 10.07 7.70 7.02 2.01
MWPI (modi®ed weathering potential index) 14.19 13.71 13.82 13.38 13.81 13.01
RR (Ruxton ratio) 7.00 6.99 6.81 6.85 6.89 6.61
VR (Vogt ratio) 0.87 0.91 0.93 0.96 0.91 1.01
CWI (chemical weathering index) 50.93 51.56 51.81 52.22 52.26 55.09
CAI (chemical alteration index) 48.67 49.25 49.46 49.86 49.97 52.58
PI (Parker index) 71.25 71.02 71.86 68.83 68.23 65.22

Bull Eng Geol Env (2001) 60:123±133 127

 E. Arel á A. Tugrul
Fig. 5
Effect of number of cycles on slake durability of weathered
granodiorite
Fig. 6
Samples of granodiorite at various stages of weathering
odiorites and low to medium for the highly and completely
weathered rocks respectively.
Physical and mechanical
properties
Samples of granodiorite were collected for each of the
weathering stages, as indicated by visual differences in theirpresence of oriented features in granodiorites such as mi-
colour, texture and composition (Fig. 6). The specimens
were prepared and tested generally in accordance with the
procedures given by the International Society for Rock
Mechanics (1981). Ten samples for each grade were tested,
with the same samples used to determine the petrographic
characteristics, chemical composition and physico-me-
chanical properties of the material. The fresh and slightly
weathered samples were obtained from borehole cores.
Particular care was taken with the completely weathered
materials which were very sensitive to disturbance during
sampling; some tests could not be performed on samples in
grade V. All core samples were oven-dried for 24 h at 105 °C
before testing, which included dry and saturated unit
weight, water absorption, and effective and total porosity.
The unit weight and water absorption were determined Regression analysis was performed to determine the
using the saturation and caliper method. Effective porosity relationship between micropetrographic index, chemical
128 Bull Eng Geol Env (2001) 60:123±133
(interconnected porosity) and pore size distribution were
determined using the forced mercury intrusion technique.
The mercury was forced into the specimen and its volume
was determined from the displaced ¯uid volume. During
the test, the mercury ®lls up the large pores under low
pressure and the small ones under high pressure. The
corresponding pore diameter versus pore volume is shown
in Fig. 7. The fresh granodiorite contained the smallest
total pore volume of 0.003 ml/g and the residual soil
(0.085 ml/g). The average pore diameter was also smallest
for the fresh granodiorite (0.0166 lm) and largest for the
completely weathered granodiorite (0.0535 lm). Changes
in pore geometry are caused by the dissolution of some
minerals and an increase in microfracture density by
progressive weathering and new mineral formation (Tug-
rul 1995). Total porosity was measured by crushing the
rock to a ®ne powder and measuring the volume of
powder by ¯uid displacement in a pycnometer according
to the International Society for Rock Mechanics (1981)
speci®cation. The total volume of pores is calculated as the
difference between the volume of the specimen and that of
the crushed particles. Determination of point load strength
on irregular lumps and uniaxial compressive strength on
core samples was undertaken also following the Interna-
tional Society for Rock Mechanics (1981) speci®cation.
The results of the laboratory tests for the range of fresh to
completely weathered granodiorite are given in Tables 5, 6
and 7. As seen in Figs. 8 and 9, a progressive reduction in
both dry and saturated unit weight and strength was noted
with increase in weathering grade.
Water absorption, effective porosity and total porosity
increased with the degree of weathering. Generally, mate-
rials with weathering grades I±II had a very low porosity,
the pores being mainly microfractures. Signi®cant devel-
opment of pores begins after grade IV and continues
throughout the weathering process. Despite an increase in
porosity to 12% in the completely weathered granodiorite,
chemical analyses revealed no leaching and petrographic
examination showed very little conversion of feldspars to
clay minerals. The increase in porosity was caused by an
increase in the number and openness of microfractures by
mechanical weathering.
Composition and texture control the strength of a rock. The
cro- and macrofractures within the intact specimen lowers
compressive strength. A signi®cant reduction was noted in
the moderately weathered grade due to an increasing degree
of microfracturing ± the amount of mineral alteration being
small. Similar results were reportedby Onodera et al. (1974),
Irfan and Dearman (1978a) and Irfan (1996).
Relationship between micropetro-
graphic index, chemical indices
and engineering properties
 Weathering and its relation to geomechanical properties

Fig. 7 signi®cant at 95% but were assumed to provide rough

Pore volume versus pore diameter of granodiorite
indexes, physical properties and mechanical properties
of the granodiorite studied (Table 8). Correlation coef-
®cient values (r) higher than ‹0.8 were considered sta-
tistically signi®cant at 95% con®dence (Johnson 1984).
Values of r between ‹0.7 and ‹0.8 were not considered
estimates of the engineering properties involved in the
correlation.
For the chemical analyses, weathering potential index and
loss on ignition exhibited the best correlation whereas the
modi®ed weathering potential index, Ruxton ratio, Vogt
ratio, chemical weathering index, chemical alteration in-
dex and Parker index were only poorly related to uniaxial

Table 5
Dry unit weight, saturated unit weight and water absorption values of the granodiorite at various stages of weathering
Weathering Speci®c Dry unit weight, cd Saturated unit weight, cs Water absorption, wa
grade gravity, Gs
(kN/m3) (kN/m3) (%)
Min. Max. Mean Min. Max. Mean Min. Max. Mean

I 2.72 25.10 26.10 25.80 25.80 26.20 26.10 1.12 1.36 1.35
II 2.71 25.00 25.60 25.40 25.40 25.90 25.80 1.33 1.74 1.41
III 2.71 23.80 25.20 24.10 23.90 25.40 24.80 1.53 2.22 1.93
IV 2.71 22.80 24.20 23.30 23.80 24.80 24.50 2.21 2.62 2.33
V 2.70 20.10 23.70 22.60 22.90 24.10 23.70 3.28 4.92 4.02
VI 2.69 18.90 21.40 19.60 21.10 23.20 21.60 6.93 8.89 7.91

Bull Eng Geol Env (2001) 60:123±133 129

 E. Arel á A. Tugrul

Table 6
Effective porosity, total porosity, total pore volume and average pore volume of granodiorite at various stages of weathering
Weathering Effective porosity, ne Total porosity, nt Total pore Average pore
grade volume diameter
(%) (%) (ml/g) (lm)

Min. Max. Mean Min. Max. Mean

I 2.78 3.56 3.48 5.36 5.78 5.57 0.003 0.0166

II 3.32 4.45 3.57 5.60 7.36 6.48 0.013 0.0365
III 3.65 5.59 4.65 6.20 11.56 8.88 0.014 0.0452
IV 5.03 6.34 5.42 6.30 14.68 10.49 0.030 0.0390
V 6.60 11.66 9.08 12.14 16.57 14.36 0.041 0.0535
VI 13.09 19.02 15.50 15.75 27.04 21.40 0.085 0.0526

Table 7 compressive strength. Figure 10 indicates that, as the de-

Uniaxial compressive strength and point load strength index values gree of weathering increased, the micropetrographic index,
of granodiorite at various stages of weathering weathering potential index and the uniaxial compressive
Weathering Uniaxial compressive Point load strength strength decreased while loss on ignition increased. The
grade strength, rC index, Is equations presented in Table 8 are preliminary and re-
quire additional validation.
(MPa) (MPa)
Physical properties (dry and saturated unit weight and
Min. Max. Mean Min. Max. Mean porosity) exhibit a strong non-linear correlation with
uniaxial compressive strength with the correlation coef®-
I 101.20 151.30 126.25 4.00 6.30 5.45 cient exceeding ‹0.80 at 95% con®dence (Table 8). Fig-
II 66.60 129.50 98.05 3.45 5.62 5.15
III 14.60 79.40 47.00 0.50 3.60 2.10 ure 11 shows a clear relationship between the unit weight
IV 11.10 21.30 16.20 0.40 0.60 0.60 and uniaxial compressive strength, supporting the work of
V 1.20 3.50 2.35 0.10 0.50 0.20 D'Andrea et al. (1965), Bell (1978). Shakoor and Bonelli
VI 0.20 0.40 0.30 ± ± ± (1991) found similar results for sandstones and Tugrul and

Fig. 8
Weathering grade versus a dry unit
weight, b saturated unit weight, c water
absorption and d effective porosity

130 Bull Eng Geol Env (2001) 60:123±133

 Weathering and its relation to geomechanical properties

Fig. 9
Weathering grade versus a point load index
and b uniaxial compressive strength

Table 8
Empirical equations for predict- Uniaxial compressive strength, rC
ing uniaxial compressive stren-
(MPa)
gth. Negative sign in front of
values designates an inverse co- Equation Correlation coef®cient (r)
rrelation. * Statistically signi®-
cant at 95% con®dence level; e Petrographic and chemical indexes:
exponential function Ip (micropetrographic index) rC=31.55±143 Ip 0.94*
WPI (weathering potential index) rC=12.37±52 WPI 0.81*
MWPI (modi®ed weathering potential index) rC=92.40±1,213 MWPI 0.71
RR (Ruxton ratio) rC=277±1,851 RR 0.75
VR (Vogt ratio) rC=810±818 VR ±0.75
CWI (chemical weathering index) rC=1,412±26 CWI ±0.71
CAI (chemical alteration index) rC=1,437±27.79 CAI ±0.71
PI (Parker index) rC=15.81±1,049 PI 0.75
LOI rC=125±52.39 LOI ±0.81*
Physical properties:
Dry unit weight, cd (kN/m3) rC=3.66´10±13 e1.28 cd 0.85*
Saturated unit weight, cs (kN/m3) rC=1.97´10±8 e0.86 cs 0.84*
Effective porosity, ne (%) rC=317 e ±0.46 ne ±0.95*
Total porosity, nt (%) rC=597 e±0.34 nt ±0.94*

Fig. 10 total porosity (Fig. 12), as indicated by other investigators

Relationship between uniaxial compressive strength and a micro- working on different types of rocks from Turkey (Gu È lecË
petrographic index, b loss on ignition and c weathering potential
index 1973; Kilic
Ë 1995; Tugrul and GuÈ rpinar 1997a, 1997b). The
porosity is an important factor in rock strength in that
voids reduce the integrity of the material and, as indicated
GuÈrpinar (1997a, 1997b) for basalts. On the other hand, as by the International Society for Rock Mechanics (1981),
expected, there is an inverse relationship between the only a small volume of pores can have an appreciable
uniaxial compressive strength and both the effective and mechanical effect.

Bull Eng Geol Env (2001) 60:123±133 131

 E. Arel á A. Tugrul
Fig. 11
Relationship between unit weight and uniaxial compressive strength
Conclusions
Petrographic, mineralogical and chemical analyses were
carried out on the granodiorite in order to determine the
main weathering mechanism and the resulting changes
in the engineering properties of the granodiorite from
Cavusbasi. The results indicated:
1. There is a predominance of physical rather than
chemical processes, as indicated by the mineralogical
and chemical analyses.
2. As the weathering increases, the percentage of Al2O3,
Fe2O3, MgO and loss on ignition increase, but the
percentage of SiO2, NaO2 and CaO decrease.
3. Where the outcrop of the granodiorites is in relatively
¯at land, they are overlain by a thick layer of highly and
completely weathered materials, but the weathered
materials are thinner on steep slopes.
4. The textural and fabric characteristics of the rock
provide the most direct control on the strength.
Weathered granodiorites are often open textured,
weakly bonded and microfractured.
5. Physical and mechanical properties of weathered
granodiorite vary over a wide range depending upon
the degree of weathering. It was found that the unit
weight and the rock strength decrease with weathering
while the porosity increases.
Acknowledgements The authors would like to express their
thanks to Prof. Akin Onalp from Sakarya University for his
valuable contribution.
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