Abstract
Dry slab avalanches release by propagating shear fractures. It has been suggested that slab wave or fracture speed on horizontal terrain is consistent with the propagation of a flexural wave in the slab. In this note, an alternate proposal is made. Namely, it is proposed that the fracture speed is consistent with dynamic crack propagation speeds from other materials. The theory is compared with an in situ measurement of speed associated with shear fracture propagation in a weak snow pack layer sensed by geophones placed on the surface of a horizontal snow pack. The theory is shown to be consistent with the mechanical properties of alpine snow and known characteristics of slab avalanche release.
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