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Coastal Boulder Deposits (CBD) are large rocks transported on land by storm or tsunami waves. Because CBD are very durable they can provide long term records of coastal inundation, but quantifying the strength and source of inundation remains controversial. The recent paper of our research associates A. Kennedy, R. Cox and of the HIGHWAVE PI F. Dias published in Geophysical Research Letters (https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL090775) uses many records of CBD found worldwide combined with wave climatology to determine the range of transport possible for storm-wave CBD, and then to compare present results to findings using older methodologies. It is found that these older methods can underestimate the potential for storm waves to create CBD, and some previously identified “tsunami” CBD may actually have been generated by storm waves.

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