Displacement and deposition of cliff-bottom rocks using smoothed particle hydrodynamics

Coastal and cliff-top boulder deposits have been of scientific interest for the last few decades. Recent scientific focus has been on boulder deposits already on top of cliffs that may move during storm events. Here, we focus on the boulder deposition process from the bottom to the top of the cliff. More specifically, a Computational Fluid Dynamics method, namely, the Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics method, was used to investigate the process under which a cliff-bottom boulder can be transported and deposited onto a cliff. The effects of the boulder's location, impact bore, and boulder submergence were studied. Although extremely rare, deposition was observed only under the most energetic conditions and with non-submerged boulders. Submerged boulders experience significantly lower horizontal and vertical displacements.