Excerpt from Soil and Bedrock Properties: Weathering and Alteration Products and Processes in the Idaho BatholithThe mechanical properties of granitic rock and the derived weathered materials are intimately related to slope stability in the Idaho batholith. Processes and products of physical weathering, chemical weathering, and hydrothermal alteration of batholithic rocks can be ranked in terms of degree of weathering and used to predict slope stability.Bulk density, hardness, unconfined compressive strength, and velocity of sonic wave transmission of weathered rock samples are all strongly correlated with weathering properties. Following subtle, initial hydrolysis of biotites, physical weathering processes are dominant in the breakdown of rock to grus at and near the soil surface. Grus is often formed with little alteration of biotites and feldspars to secondary minerals or amorphous oxides of silicon, aluminum, and iron.Bedrock buried at depths below the rooting zone is subject to intense chemical weathering and mineral alteration. The degree to which chemical weathering processes can proceed is related to the inherent slope stability of the site. On gentle slopes with low erosion rates, chemical weathering can advance to a point where the weathered product consists of quartz grains embedded in a matrix of clays and crystalline and amorphous oxides of silicon, aluminum, and iron.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.