Open AccessSolitary fracture waves in metastable snow stratifications
Author(s) -
Heierli Joachim
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: earth surface
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.67
H-Index - 298
eISSN - 2156-2202
pISSN - 0148-0227
DOI - 10.1029/2004jf000178
Subject(s) - geology , snow , stratification (seeds) , fracture (geology) , firn , terrain , geophysics , slab , mechanics , geotechnical engineering , geomorphology , physics , seed dormancy , ecology , botany , germination , dormancy , biology
Fracture processes in layered snow have many implications on avalanche hazard and mountain safety. This paper is a contribution for a better understanding of fracture dynamics in a stratified medium with a collapsible layer in terms of a simple analytical model involving only field measurable parameters. For this purpose a simple three‐layer snow stratification is considered to consist of a compact basal layer, a collapsible weak layer, and a homogenous top layer. It is shown analytically that the fracture of the weak layer can occur in the form of a localized disturbance zone propagating a collapse with constant velocity and wavelength. Simple analytical expressions describing the disturbance are obtained. The results are in good agreement with observations in the terrain. The presented fracture process is relevant to the release of dry snow slab avalanches and to the propagation of firn quakes and whumpfs but may also apply to other stratified media with appropriate properties.