Anatomy and failure of an avalanche


o Weak Layer:

  • Shear failure between slab and bed surface
  • Likely initialization

o Crown:

  • Tensile failure
  • Crown perpendicular to the bed surface

o Flank:

  • Mixture of tensile and shear failure

o Stauchwall:

  • Compression failure
  • Slab rides up on snow layer


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