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avalanche


Avalanche from Curtis Ridge on Mount Rainier, 23 Oct 1992
Avalanche from Curtis Ridge on Mount Rainier, 23 Oct 1992.
Image: USGS
A mass of snow, ice, and mixed rubble moving down a mountainside or over a precipice, usually caused by loud noises or other shock waves acting on snow already unstable from subsurface thawing. Avalanches can be major factors in erosion.


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