PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF ROCKS I

Dr. Azealdeen Salih Al-Jawadi

Volume – Weight Relations

Density = weight of rock/volume (kg/m3)

ρ= Wt/Vt

Unit weight of solids = weight of dry rock / true volume (kg/m3)

γs= Wd/Vs

True volume signifies the grains without pores and fissures included

Relative density = density of rock/density of water at 20°C

η= ρ/ ρw

Bulk unit weight ρ=weight of dry rock/ total volume (kg/m3)

ρ= Wd/Vt

Total volume or the volume of skeleton including pores and fissures

Water content = Ww/Ws

While the degree of saturation, Sr, is equal to the division of volume of

water to the volume of voids.

Sr = Vw/Vv
The specific gravity of the solid phase of a rock, Gs, is defined as follows

Specific gravity of solids= density of dry rock/density of water at 20°C

Gs=ρs/ρw

Saturation and Buoyancy technique

Applicable only to non-friable coherent rocks that can be machined and
rocks that do not swell or disintegrate when they are oven dried or when
immersed in water. At least three specimens selected such that minimum
size should be of mass 50g or minimum dimension should be ten times
greater than maximum grain size whichever is greater. Apparatus
required: Oven, Desiccator, Vernier, Vacuum saturation equipment,
Sample container, Balance, Immersion bath and Wire basket.

Procedure:
• The sample is washed in water to remove dust and then is saturated in
water for 1 hour with a vacuum pressure of 0.8 kPa
• Determine the mass of wire basket submerged into immersion bath, M 1
• Transfer the mass of sample into wire basket into immersion bath and
determine the mass. M2
• Determine the mass of container which should be in clean and dry with
lid, M3
• Remove the sample from immersion bath and surface dry it with moist
cloth. Place the sample into the container with lid and determine their
mass, M4
• Take out the lid and place the sample with container into the oven at
105°C for 24 hours
• Place the sample in desiccators and allow it cool for 30 minutes
• Determine the mass of dry sample with container provided with lid, M 5

Calculations:
Saturated-Submerged mass, Msub= M2−M1 (kg)
Saturated-Surface dry mass, Msat= M4−M3 (kg)
Dry mass, Ms= M5−M3 (kg)
Msat−Msub
Bulk volume, V= (m3)
ρw
Msat−Ms
Pore volume, Vv= (m3)
ρw
Vv
Porosity, n = ×100(%)
V
Ms
Dry density, ρd = (kg/m3)
V
ρd
Relative density, Gm =
ρw
Ms
Grain density, Gs=
Vs
Vv
Voids ratio, e = ×100(%)
Vs
n e
e= and n= ?
1-n 1+e
Msat
Voids index, Vi = ×100(%)
Ms

Density
Density of the rock is the mass of rock per unit volume where as unit
weight of the rock is the weight per unit volume. Highly porous rocks and
relatively poor arrangement of grains (less packing) usually have
relatively less densities and vice versa. The bulk unit weight considers the
bulk (total) volume of rocks where as the solid unit weight considers
volume excluding the pores, fissures. Obviously, for porous rocks the unit
weight of solid would be relatively higher than the bulk unit weight as the
value in the denominator is relatively lower due to exclusion of pores and
micro fractures. Bulk unit weight depends on the type of rock, its porosity
and geological processes that take place in it. Bulk unit weight of a rock
may vary from region to region, some times in one location to another
within the same geological formation. The water content of rock
specimen can be calculated directly by dividing mass of pore water to
mass of sample.
Porosity
Porosity can be estimated through volumetric measurements of core
samples, or from geophysical logs, which measure a property of the rock
and infer porosity, or from Petrographic Image Analysis (PIA), which is
pore level evaluation of a small sample size.

Rocks contain voids in the form of pores, joints (fissures) etc. The voids
may be interred connected or separated from one another. If they are inter
connected and pressure gradient exists – rock can conduct fluids or gases.
Porosity is an intrinsic property and is the ratio of the volume of openings
(voids) to the total volume of material.

Porosity represents the storage capacity of the geologic material. The

primary porosity of a sediment or rock consists of the spaces between the
grains that make up that material. The more tightly packed the grains are,
the lower the porosity. Using a box of marbles as an example, the internal
dimensions of the box would represent the volume of the sample. The
space surrounding each of the spherical marbles represents the void
space. The porosity of the box of marbles would be determined by
dividing the total void space by the total volume of the sample and
expressed as a percentage. The primary porosity of unconsolidated
sediments is determined by the shape of the grains and the range of grain
sizes present. In poorly sorted sediments, those with a larger range of
grain sizes, the finer grains tend to fill the spaces between the larger
grains, resulting in lower porosity. Primary porosity can range from less
than one percent in crystalline rocks like granite to over 55% in some
soils. The porosity of some rock is increased through fractures or solution
of the material itself. This is known as secondary porosity.

Usually igneous or metamorphic rocks will have very low porosity (0-
2%) where as sedimentary rocks like sandstones will have very high
porosity (up to 40%). Many factors which affect porosity like, grain size
distribution, grain shape and arrangement, degree of cementation of
grains, applied pressure etc. Porosity decreases with increase of pressure
and therefore, deep seated deposit with large overlying pressure may tend
to have relatively low porosity compare to surface depositions. Secondary
Porosity increases with increase of density of discontinuities and degree
of weathering.
Grade Term Total Porosity% Dry Density (Mg/m3)
I Fresh Rock 3.48 2.63
II Slightly Weathered 3.57 2.59
III Moderately Weathered 4.65 2.46
IV Highly Weathered 5.42 2.38
V Completely Weathered 9.08 2.30
VI Residual Soil 15.5 2.00

Porosity is therefore an accurate index of rock quality.

PERMIABILITY

Permeability: a measure of the ability of a material (such as rocks) to

transmit fluids. Dense rocks like granite, basalt, schist and crystalline
limestone possess very low permeabilities as lab specimens, but field
tests can show significant permeability due to open joints and fractures.

Permeability is a measure of the ease of flow of a fluid through a porous

solid. A rock may be extremely porous, but if the pores are not connected,
it will have no permeability. Likewise, a rock may have a few continuous
cracks which allow ease of fluid flow, but when porosity is calculated, the
rock doesn't seem very porous.

Permeability can be expressed by the coefficient of conductivity k [m.s-1],

which means a discharge velocity of water flow in a rock under the action
of a unit hydraulic gradient, usually expressed in meters per second.

A. h. t
k= [m.s-1]
Q. l
where
Q is the volume of water leaking through the specimen during time t
l is the height of the tested specimen
A is the cross-section of the specimen
h is the difference in the water pressure levels
t is the period of measurement.