Causes and Triggers
The name for the force that pulls rock, soil, and snow downhill?
What is gravity?
Slow, gradual downhill movement of soil over time.
What is soil creep?
The most immediate danger to humans during a major avalanche.
What is burial beneath snow?
These structures are commonly used to protect towns from avalanches.
What are avalanche fences or snow nets?
Heavy rainfall increases this pressure inside soil and often triggers landslides.
What is pore-water pressure?
A rapid movement of water‑saturated sediment and debris.
What is debris flow?
Landslides can block rivers and form this dangerous temporary feature.
What is a landslide dam?
Technology used to measure ground movement on unstable slopes.
What are GPS sensors or inclinometers?
Avalanches often happen due to this reason.
What is rapid temperature increase or heavy snow fall that breaks apart the weaker bottom layer?
This type of avalanche happens when a cohesive block of snow that breaks away from a weaker layer beneath it.
What is a slab avalanche?
One economic impact of landslides on communities.
What is infrastructure damage?
repair costs, road closures, loss of tourism
Human activities like deforestation weaken slopes by removing this stabilising feature.
What are vegetation root systems?
Mass movement that moves as one block, unlike a flow which behaves like a fluid.
What is a slide?
Buried avalanche victims often suffer this medical emergency due to snow trapping cold air.
What is hypothermia?
The point on a slope where stress becomes greater than strength, causing sudden failure.
What is the failure or slip plane?
The bowl‑shaped feature at the top of an avalanche path.
What is the starting zone?
Long‑term environmental damage occurs when landslides strip away soil down to bedrock.
What is ecosystem decline due to lack of soil for vegetation.