Cliff-top storm deposits on Banneg Island, Brittany, France: effects of giant waves in the Eastern Atlantic Ocean

International audienceThis study is based on the morphosedimentary analysis of the cliff-top storm deposits accumulated on the coast of Banneg Island located in the archipelago of Molène (Brittany, France). These CTSDs comprise large, tabular clasts quarried from the upper part of the cliff and the backing scoured platform by giant oceanic storm waves impacting directly the western coast of the island. An analysis of the distribution and the geomorphology of these accumulations were carried out using the DGPS topographic surveys. Most of the clasts are organised into imbricate boulder clusters or ridges deposited between 7.5 and 14.5 masl. 52 accumulations were inventoried from the north to the south of the island, representing a global volume of 1000 m3. The median size of the clasts calculated is equivalent to 0.8 × 0.6 × 0.4 m and a weight of 0.6 t. The largest one measuring 5.3 × 3.9 × 0.5 m (≈ 32 t) is located in the centre of the island (ridge #28). It has been deposited 14 m inland from the edge of the cliff at the elevation of 9 m. Sediment analysis shows that clast sizes become smaller with increasing distance from the shoreline, but there is no relationship between the sorting and the distance inland. A study of the hydrodynamic conditions inducing clast transport was undertaken by an analysis of the wave data from the 1989 to the 1990 winter storms. Models of wave runup indicate that their highest water levels may have reached up to 19 masl, 5 to 10 m higher than the top of the cliff. Submersion by giant storm waves has been more important and frequent in the centre and the south of the island. Wave data over the 1979 to the 2007 period shows that no events as powerful as those of the 1989 to the 1990 winter were recorded during the last 30 years. Yet, it appears that the 1979–1990 decade was characterized by important morphogeneous events while the following period (1990–2007) has experienced a sharp decrease in storm events. These variations could be attributed to the inversion from a negative towards a positive phase in the North Atlantic Oscillation index