ABSTRACT
All of the avalanches apparently produced overriding dust clouds, similar to other avalanches, as indicated by fine-grained deposits that extended hundreds of meters beyond the main avalanche deposits. Rock avalanches have created extreme hazards due to their great mobility and energy; single avalanches have killed hundreds to thousands of people and destroyed entire cities. Deposits of seven large avalanches triggered by the November 3, 2002 Denali Fault, Alaska, USA earthquake were examined to gain insight into avalanche movement characteristics. Some of these avalanches were channelized within glacial valleys while others occurred on open slopes. Open-slope avalanche deposits generally had consistent thickness of 2-4 m over lengths as great as 4.6 km. Channelized avalanche deposits appeared to consist of overlapped deposits of individual waves. Substrate overrun by avalanches was generally undisturbed and was locally plowed at distal ends of deposits. Deposit characteristics suggest that channelized avalanches flowed as series of waves while open-slope avalanches flowed as coherent units.
