{
  "abstract": "Belharra, a wave-energy hotspot located on the French Basque coast, is renowned for occasionally presenting world-class big-wave surfing conditions. This study investigates the underlying processes leading to exceptionally large waves breaking at this site, treated here as a natural case study for bathymetry-driven wave-energy focusing. A combination of spectral and phase-resolving numerical modeling is used to examine a range of incident swell conditions and tide levels, revealing the key processes that shape the wave field at both coastal and local scales. A wave-by-wave analysis of high-energy scenarios is complemented by qualitative comparisons with surfer trajectory data recorded during a large swell event, while coastal hindcasting is used to study historical large swell events. The findings show that extreme conditions at Belharra result from multi-scale bathymetric focusing, in which coastal-scale refraction over offshore features preconditions the incoming swell, while local shoaling over the seamount triggers depth-induced breaking. The most energetic conditions occur for long-period swells approaching from a narrow directional window. Within this window, maximum wave-height amplification and maximum breaking intensity occur for different incident directions, near 295 • and 315 • , respectively. In addition, higher tide levels lead to larger wave heights but reduced breaking intensity. These findings improve our understanding of the wave dynamics at Belharra and provide broader insight into bathymetry-driven wave-energy concentration and extreme breaking in coastal environments.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 7,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Diego Slamovitz"
    },
    {
      "name": "Matthias Delpey"
    },
    {
      "name": "Denis Morichon"
    },
    {
      "name": "Stéphane Abadie"
    },
    {
      "name": "Assaf Azouri"
    },
    {
      "name": "Mario Morales-Hernández"
    },
    {
      "name": "Volker Roeber"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/5ndqn6ynqyc1x.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1007/s42286-026-00151-y",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "5ndqn6ynqyc1x",
  "issns": [
    "2523-367X",
    "2523-367X"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://hal.science/hal-05774667v1",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY-SA-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "hal",
      "0.math"
    ],
    [
      "hal",
      "0.sde"
    ],
    [
      "hal",
      "1.math.math-na"
    ],
    [
      "hal",
      "1.sde.ie"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "1910|Ocean Waves and Remote Sensing"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7215123260",
  "pdf_url": "https://hal.science/hal-05774667/document",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-01",
  "publisher": "Springer",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/5ndqn6ynqyc1x.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:17:46Z",
      "native_id": "hal-05774667",
      "source": "hal",
      "url": "https://hal.science/hal-05774667v1"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "earth",
      "origin": "hal:0.sde",
      "subfield": "environmental-science"
    },
    {
      "field": "mathematics",
      "origin": "hal:1.math.math-na",
      "subfield": "numerical-analysis"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Multiscale Dynamics of Bathymetry-Driven Extreme Wave Breaking",
  "title_text": "Multiscale Dynamics of Bathymetry-Driven Extreme Wave Breaking",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:17:46Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/5ndqn6ynqyc1x",
  "venue": "Water Waves",
  "versions": []
}