The physics of snow slab avalanches similar to that of earthquakes

Scientists from EPFL and the WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF have gained deeper insight into how snow slab avalanches form, paving the way to more effective risk assessment measures for these catastrophic events that induce more avalanche accidents and fatalities every year than other types of avalanches. The team of EPFL and SLF scientists made a discovery which represents a paradigm shift that could significantly influence their research niche. By expanding the scale for snow slab avalanche simulations from a meter to a hundred meters, they obtained a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying these events. Their discovery also illustrates the benefits that advances in computer processing power can bring to the methods used to observe complex physical phenomena. The team's findings appear in Nature Physics . Their work builds on a 2018 study by EPFL professor Johan Gaume and scientists at the University of California in Los Angeles. That initial study, published in Nature Communications , describes a 3D simulation method that the researchers developed to model snow slab avalanches with unrivaled precision.