avalanche
Sign in to savethumb|upright=1.25|A powder snow avalanche in the Himalayas near [[Mount Everest]] An avalanche is a rapid flow of snow down a slope, such as a hill or mountain. Avalanches can be triggered spontaneously, by factors such as increased precipitation or snowpack weakening, or by external means such as humans, other animals, and earthquakes. Primarily composed of flowing snow and air, large avalanches have the capability to capture and move ice, rocks, and trees.
AI overview
An avalanche is a rapid flow of snow down a slope such as a hill or mountain, which can be triggered by natural factors like heavy precipitation or snowpack weakening, or by external causes like humans, animals, and earthquakes. Large avalanches matter because they can capture and move not just snow and air, but also ice, rocks, and trees, making them potentially destructive events.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Article
39 sectionsContents
- Formation
- Slab avalanches
- Powder snow avalanches
- Wet snow avalanches
- Ice avalanche
- Avalanche pathway
- Injuries and deaths
- Terrain, snowpack, weather
- Terrain
- Snowpack structure and characteristics
- Weather
- Dynamics
- Modeling
- Human involvement
- How to prevent avalanches
- Mitigation
- Early warning systems
- Alarm systems
- Survival, rescue, and recovery
- Notable avalanches
- Classification of avalanches
- European avalanche risk
- European avalanche size table
- North American Avalanche Danger Scale
- Avalanche problems
- Canadian classification for avalanche size
- United States classification for avalanche size
- Rutschblock Test
- Avalanches and climate change
- Impacts on avalanche type and frequency
- Impacts on burial survival rate
- Avalanches of dust on Mars
- See also
- Related flows
- Avalanche disasters
- References
- Bibliography
- Notes
- External links
thumb|upright=1.25|A powder snow avalanche in the Himalayas near [[Mount Everest]] An avalanche is a rapid flow of snow down a slope, such as a hill or mountain. Avalanches can be triggered spontaneously, by factors such as increased precipitation or snowpack weakening, or by external means such as humans, other animals, and earthquakes. Primarily composed of flowing snow and air, large avalanches have the capability to capture and move ice, rocks, and trees.
Avalanches occur in two general forms, or combinations thereof: slab avalanches made of tightly packed snow, triggered by a collapse of an underlying weak snow layer, and loose snow avalanches made of looser snow. After being set off, avalanches usually accelerate rapidly and grow in mass and volume as they capture more snow. If an avalanche moves fast enough, some of the snow may mix with the air, forming a powder snow avalanche.