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The Makings of an Avalanche (4 of 5)

Caption: An example of slab avalanche triggered from the distance. The release was triggered by a field worker on skis moving near the top of the rounded ridge (upper left corner of the picture). Although the fracture must have undercut the whole slope, the avalanche released only on the steepest section. This image relates to an article that appeared in the July 11, 2008, issue of Science, published by AAAS. The study, by Dr. Joachim Heierli and colleagues at the University of Edinburgh in Edinburgh, UK, was titled "Anticrack Nucleation As Triggering Mechanism for Snow Slab Avalanches."

Credit: Image courtesy of A. Duclos, www.data-avalanche.org

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