Earth’s Cryosphere, 2010, Vol. XIV, No. 1, p. 81-91

STUDY OF STRENGTH PROPERTIES OF SNOW COVER ON THE MOUNTAIN SLOPE, SPITSBERGEN ARCHIPELAGO

V.P. Epifanov, N.I. Osokin*

Ishlinskyi Institute of Problems Mechanics, RAS, 119526, Moscow, pr. Vernadskogo, 101, build. 1, Russia, evp@ipmnet.ru
* Institute of Geography, RAS, 119017, Moscow, Staromonetnyi per., 29, Russia, osokinn@mail.ru

The field method of measurement of critical stress intensity factor has been developed. It allows studying the strength of the even-aged snow cover layers on the Olaf mountain slope (Spitsbergen archipelago). The experiments have demonstrated that the conditions of flat deformation in sample are met. The conformity of tensile load and the deformations observed and calculated by finite-element method are also experimentally confirmed. The dependences of critical stress intensity factor on snow layer temperature and its depth are obtained.

Key words: Snow cover, structure, temperature, fracture toughness, density, even-aged snow layers.