TITLE:
The Effect of Mineral Composition, Microstructure on Physical Properties of Aggregate from River Punjkora and Kunai, Dir (Lower), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
AUTHORS:
Aftab Ur Rahman, Guangcheng Zhang, Asghar Khan, Juma Muhammad, Adnan Sohail, Habib Ur Rehman, Mohit Kumar Puniya, Bilal Ashraf
KEYWORDS:
Petrography, Physical Properties, Microstructures, Aggregate, River, Dir
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Geoscience and Environment Protection,
Vol.10 No.4,
April
21,
2022
ABSTRACT: Aggregate
is a worldwide raw material used for various construction purposes which are
obtained from geological material through drilling, blasting, mining, and river derived. This study has been
focused on river Panjkora and Kunai-derived aggregates which are natural
sources of aggregate used for various construction purposes in Dir
(Lower). Field observation and detailed petrographic studies of representative
samples reveal that rivers Panjkora and Kunai pass from different lithological
units of granite, gabbroic, and amphibolite. Petrographically, the granitic
rocks of the study area are consisting of alkali feldspar, quartz, and
plagioclase feldspar. Minor accessory minerals in granite were hornblende,
biotite, epidote, rutile, zircon, and ore minerals. The gabbroic rocks are
consisting of pyroxene, plagioclase, and minor to accessory minerals including
biotite, sphene, rutile, epidote, and ore minerals. The main mineral phases in
amphibolites are hornblende, plagioclase, and a minor amount of quartz, sphene,
and ore minerals. Gneissose fabric has developed in amphibolite refers to its
banded nature. The minor mineral phases of amphibolite include epidote, ore
minerals, and garnet. The feldspar alteration in granite is in the form of
sericitization and normal zoning. The physical properties of river Panjkora and Kunai float i.e., water absorption,
specific gravity, fine modulus, loss Angeles and soundness were within
the range. Both petrographic and geotechnical properties suggested that these
aggregates are suitable to be used as coarse aggregate in concrete. These must
be present in the recommendation section at the end.