Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
(a)
(b)
Figure 2.1.
(a) Slab avalanche released by gliding wet snow; note also that single-point
releases can also be observed. (b) Dry-snow slab avalanche in the La Sionne field site
(courtesy of SLF)
a clear fracture corresponding to the breakaway wall at the top edge of the slab and
a bed surface over which the slab has slide (see Figure 2.1). If the snow is too loose,
the failure processes differ significantly from the ones governing slab release. Loose
snow avalanches form near the surface. They usually start from a single point, then
they spread out laterally by pushing and incorporating more snow.
The stability of a snow cover depends on many parameters. We can distinguish the
fixed parameters related to the avalanche path and the varying parameters, generally
