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Explain why damage is more likely to result from a slab avalanche than a sluff avalanche.

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Answer:

Slab avalanches and sluff avalanches are two types of avalanches that differ in several ways, including their likelihood to cause damage.

A slab avalanche occurs when a cohesive layer of snow breaks free and slides down the mountain as a cohesive unit, often breaking into large blocks or slabs of snow. These blocks can be several feet thick and can contain large amounts of snow, ice, and debris. When a slab avalanche occurs, the force of the moving snow can be extremely powerful, easily knocking down trees, boulders, and other obstacles in its path. This can cause significant damage to buildings, infrastructure, and people caught in its path.

In contrast, a sluff avalanche is a small, loose flow of snow that is less cohesive than a slab avalanche. Sluff avalanches typically occur on steep slopes with small amounts of loose snow, and they do not typically contain large blocks of snow. While they can be dangerous to skiers and other individuals on the mountain, sluff avalanches generally do not have the same force and destructive power as slab avalanches.

Therefore, damage is more likely to result from a slab avalanche than a sluff avalanche due to the much greater amount of snow, ice, and debris involved in a slab avalanche, as well as the force of the moving snow.

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