Wave‐Emplaced Coarse Debris and Megaclasts in Ireland and Scotland: Boulder Transport in a High‐Energy Littoral Environment

Abstract

Many coastlines of the world, particularly those at higher latitudes and those located in tropical cyclone belts, are regularly battered by strong storm waves. Drowning of low‐lying areas by storm surges and storm floods has been thoroughly recorded; however, storm deposits at rocky shorelines or on cliffs have been underrepresented in the literature. This article presents observations of extraordinary wave deposits along the high–wave energy coastlines of western Ireland and the northern Scottish isles and discusses possible wave event types and time windows of the processes responsible. We used archaeological, geomorphological, and geochronological disciplines to compare our findings with earlier results published for these areas and to contribute to the debate on whether large clasts found well above sea level and/or a considerable distance inland were deposited by storms or by tsunamis.