Pothole (landform)

In Earth science, a pothole is a smooth, bowl-shaped or cylindrical hollow, generally deeper than it is wide, carved into the rocky bed of a watercourse. Other names for riverine potholes include pot, stream kettle, giant's kettle, evorsion, rock mill, churn hole, eddy mill and kolk, and they are also called swirlholes. Geomorphologists agree that fluvial potholes are created by the grinding action of a stone or stones, or coarse sediment such as sand, gravel and pebbles, whirled around by eddies and the force of the stream current in one spot. They are a spectacular feature of bedrock river channels and are studied as a key factor in channel development and in the incision of bedrock channels. A plunge pool at the foot of a waterfall is related in origin. The term is also used for other depressions of different origin, such as panholes on the Colorado Plateau and shallow prairie depressions between dunes in Minnesota and the Dakotas that hold seasonal ponds.