Avalanche From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search This article refers to the natural

event. For other uses, see Avalanche (disambi guation) A powder snow avalanche in the Himalayas near Mount Everest. The toe of an avalanche in Alaska's Kenai Fjords. Dry snow avalanche with a powder cloud Starting powder snow avalanche An avalanche (also called a snowslide or snowslip) is a sudden, drastic flow of snow down a slope, occurring when either natural triggers, such as loading from new snow or rain, or artificial triggers , such as snowmobilers, explosives or backcountry skiers, overload the snowpack. The influence of gravity on the accum ulated weight of newly fallen uncompacted snow or on thawing older snow leads to avalanches which may be triggered by ear thquakes, gunshots and the movements of animals. Avalanches are most common during winter or spring but glacier movemen ts may cause ice avalanches during summer. Avalanches cause loss of life and can destroy settlements, roads, railways and forests. From a geophysical perspective, avalanches are an example of a non-critical, punctuated equilibrium system.[1] T ypically occurring in mountainous terrain, an avalanche can mix air and water with the descending snow. Powerful avalanche s have the capability to entrain ice, rocks, trees, and other material on the slope. Avalanches are primarily composed of fl owing snow, and are distinct from mudslides, rock slides, and serac collapses on an icefall. In contrast to other natural ev ents which can cause disasters, avalanches are not rare or random events and are endemic to any mountain range that accumul ates a standing snowpack. In mountainous terrain avalanches are among the most serious objective hazards to life and pro perty, with their destructive capability resulting from their potential to carry an enormous mass of snow rapidly over la rge distances. Avalanches are classified by their morphological characteristics and are rated b y either their destructive potential, or the mass of the downward flowing snow. Some of the morphological characteristics used to classify avalanches include the type of snow involved, the nature of the failure, the sliding surface, the propa gation mechanism of the failure, the trigger of the avalanche, the slope angle, slope aspect, and elevation. The size of an avalanche, its mass and its destructive potential are rated on a logarithmic scale, typically of 5 categorie s, with the precise definition of the categories depending on the observation system or geographic region in which th e avalanche occurs.