Scots scientists work out secret of how deadly avalanches start

Published on Thursday 10 July 2008 22:38

RESEARCHERS at a Scots university believe they may have found the underlying cause of the kind of avalanches most commonly triggered by skiers.

It had been previously believed that slab avalanches were created by "shear cracks" in the surface of snow, which allowed large slabs of it to slide down mountainsides.

However, scientists from the University of Edinburgh have now suggested the main reason is fractures under the surface – known as anti-cracks – which make a layer of snow crumble inwardly like a house of cards, causing the upper layers to slide off.

Joachim Heierli, of the university's Centre for Materials Science and Engineering, said: "Our discoveries complete a piece of the puzzle of how avalanches occur – we hope this will help to pinpoint dangerous telltale signs and so avoid unnecessary dangers on mountains."