New method improves the prediction of slab avalanches
Published: Monday, Sep 2nd 2024, 17:10
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A new method enables researchers to better predict avalanches. Using experiments, the scientists from Switzerland and Germany were able to show the level of stress at which slab avalanches occur.
The new method was presented on Monday in the scientific journal "Nature Communications".
Even a single skier can trigger a slab avalanche. Their weight can put so much strain on a weak layer of snow that it collapses. This can create a crack that spreads until an avalanche breaks loose. In this case, experts speak of anti-cracks.
The fundamental fracture-mechanical properties behind these cracks, which can lead to powerful slab avalanches, are still largely unknown, wrote the Technical University of Darmstadt (TU Darmstadt) in a press release on the study. The university led the study, in which researchers from the Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research (SLF) in Davos were also involved.
Snow layers mounted on sledges
For their experiment, the researchers mounted blocks of snow containing weak layers of snow on a sledge and tilted it at different angles. With the help of additional weights and cuts in the weak layer, a collapse of the snow column was triggered, causing an anti-crack to begin to spread.
With this experiment, the researchers have developed a method with which they can indicate whether or not a crack will propagate under the given load conditions, as the university explained.
According to TU Darmstadt, this finding makes an important contribution to understanding the fracture processes that lead to avalanches and is central to improving avalanche forecasting.
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