Physical field characterization of boulders in tropical weathering profile - A case study in Ulu Tiram, Johor Malaysia

Abstract

Boulder is known as one of the weathered products that formed by the disintegration and decomposition process of jointed rock mass, forming into spherical form by the reaction of concentric spheroidal weathering process. However, the physical characteristic of boulder in weathering profile where it is formed is not well understood. This paper is aimed to investigate the physical field characterization of boulders in term of its size, shape and distance from bedrock in the weathering profile. The study has been carried out towards six panels located at a granite quarry in Ulu Tiram, Johor. The initial finding indicated that the shape and the diameter of boulder were changing by the increment of the distance from bedrock but the pattern of the shape of the boulder showed that it did not depend on its diameter. It can be concluded that there are significant pattern and correlation between shape, size and the distance of boulder in the weathering profile.