Angle of repose

Komar, Paul D.

doi:10.1007/978-1-4020-3609-5_6

Paul D. Komar⁶

Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series ((EESS))

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When sand cascades down the face of a dune, it comes to rest at a slope that has nearly the same angle as a cone-shaped pile of sand formed by a colony of ants. A pile of wheat develops a nearly identical cone having essentially the same slope. This slope angle must therefore be an intrinsic property of loose grains, a property that is generally termed the angle of repose, the acute angle that the slope makes with the horizontal. On average this angle is approximately 33°, but varies by a few degrees depending on the sizes and shapes of the grains, as well as on other factors such as the moisture content.

Investigations of the angle of repose have produced the slope in the laboratory by: (a) carefully pouring loose particles into a pile, (b) removing one side of a container to release the particles, or (c) rotating a trough containing grains until movement forms a slope (Van Burkalow, 1945; Allen, 1969; Carrigy, 1970). The rotating trough in particular reveals the existence of two...

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Bibliography

Allen, J.R.L., 1969. The maximum slope angle attainable by surfaces underlain by bulked equal spheroids with variable dimensional ordering. Bulletin Geological Society of America, 80: 1923–1930.
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Carrigy, M.A., 1970. Experiments on the angles of repose of granular materials. Sedimentology, 14: 147–158.
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Van Burkalow, A., 1945. Angle of repose and angle of sliding friction: An experimental study. Bulletin Geological Society of America, 56: 669–708.
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Fabric, Porosity and Permeability Grain Size and Shape

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Authors and Affiliations

College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University, 104 Ocean Admin Bldg, Corvallis, OR, 97331-5503, USA
Paul D. Komar

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Paul D. Komar
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School of Geography and Geology, McMaster University, 1280 Main St West, Hamilton, ON, L8S 4K1, Canada
Gerard V. Middleton
Department of Geography, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T IZ2, Canada
Michael J. Church
Department of Earth Sciences, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, N2L 3G I, Canada
Mario Coniglio
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, 21218, USA
Lawrence A. Hardie
Department of Earth Sciences, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, N6A 5B7, Canada
Frederick J. Longstaffe

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Komar, P.D. (1978). Angle of repose. In: Middleton, G.V., Church, M.J., Coniglio, M., Hardie, L.A., Longstaffe, F.J. (eds) Encyclopedia of Sediments and Sedimentary Rocks. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-3609-5_6

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-3609-5_6
Published: 28 February 2013
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-1-4020-0872-6
Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-3609-5
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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