The effect of slab touchdown on anticrack arrest in propagation saw tests

Rosendahl, Philipp L.; Schneider, Johannes; Bobillier, Grégoire; Rheinschmidt, Florian; Bergfeld, Bastian; van Herwijnen, Alec; Weißgraeber, Philipp

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-1975-2025

Articles | Volume 25, issue 6

https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-1975-2025

© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-1975-2025

© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 25, issue 6

Research article

|

17 Jun 2025

Research article |

| 17 Jun 2025

The effect of slab touchdown on anticrack arrest in propagation saw tests

Philipp L. Rosendahl, Johannes Schneider, Grégoire Bobillier, Florian Rheinschmidt, Bastian Bergfeld, Alec van Herwijnen, and Philipp Weißgraeber

Data sets

Time series data on dynamic crack propagation in long propagation saw tests Bastian Bergfeld et al. https://doi.org/10.16904/envidat.365

The effect of slab touchdown on anticrack arrest in propagation saw tests dataset and data processing Philipp L. Rosendahl et al. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15659181

Model code and software

WEAC model Philipp Weißgraeber and Philipp L. Rosendahl https://github.com/2phi/weac

Weak Layer Anticrack Nucleation Model (WEAC) (v2.5.1) Philipp L. Rosendahl and Philipp Weissgraeber https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.11121172

Short summary

Avalanche formation depends on crack propagation in weak snow layers, but the conditions that stop a crack remain unclear. We show that slab touchdown reduces the energy driving crack growth, which can halt propagation even under static conditions. This suggests that crack arrest is influenced not only by snowpack variability or dynamics but also by mechanical interactions within the snowpack. Our findings refine avalanche prediction models and improve hazard assessment.