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Original Text (Annotation: EPW034088 / 456615)
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Top fed spoil heaps make interesting examples of the formation of slopes. The combination of particle size and that particle's angle of repose along with the process of consolidation as material is washed down the slope by rain, brings about the formation of rectilinear slopes. In this case there two rectilinear slopes with a break of slope about 3/5ths of the way down the cone where the more consolidated material is able to carry a greater load.
The slope also displays fan shapes which may reflect the washing down of material by the rail or the movement of the chute at the top of the conveyor.
These 'human' slopes tell us much about natural slopes, where different materials (rocks) may determine the angles and breaks of slope. But the relationship between particle size, sub-aerial processes and gravity are the same. '