Pothole, a pothole from Capital Reef National Park Spring 2013

A panhole is a depression or basin eroded into flat or gently sloping cohesive rock.Twidale, C.R., and Bourne, J.A., 2018
''Rock basins (gnammas) revisited. ''
Géomorphologie: Relief, Processus, Environnement, Articles sous presse, Varia, mis en ligne le 08 janvier 2018, consulté le 01 juillet 2018. Similar terms for this feature are gnamma or rock holes (Australia), armchair hollows, weathering pans (or pits) and solution pans (or pits).Hughes, Kebbi A., 2012
''Bacterial Communities and their Influence on the Formation and Development of Potholes in Sandstone Surfaces of the Semi-Arid Colorado Plateau''
University of Western Ontario - Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository. Paper 543. Some authors refer to panholes also as

pothole A pothole is a depression in a road surface, usually asphalt pavement, where traffic has removed broken pieces of the pavement. It is usually the result of water in the underlying soil structure and traffic passing over the affected area. Water ...

s, which is a term typically used for similarly shaped riverine landforms. In fluvial

geomorphology Geomorphology (from Ancient Greek: , ', "earth"; , ', "form"; and , ', "study") is the scientific study of the origin and evolution of topographic and bathymetric features created by physical, chemical or biological processes operating at or n ...

, the term ''pothole'' is typically used for a smooth, bowl-shaped or cylindrical hollow, generally deeper than wide, found developed in the rocky bed of a stream. This type of feature is created by the grinding action either of a stone or stones or of coarse sediment whirled around and kept in motion by eddies or the force of the stream current in a given spot.Neuendorf, K.K.E., J.P. Mehl, Jr., and J.A. Jackson, eds., 2011. ''Glossary of Geology'' (5th ed.). Alexandria, Virginia, American Geological Institute. 800 pp.

Description of panholes

Panholes are erosional or destructional features that are developed in a variety of climatic environments and in a wide range of rock types. These shallow basins, or closed depressions, are quite commonly well developed in surfaces of granitic rocks and sandstone. They are generally characterized by flat bottoms and sometimes by overhanging sides. The initial form may be a closed hollow created by a patch of

humus In classical soil science, humus is the dark organic matter in soil that is formed by the decomposition of plant and animal matter. It is a kind of soil organic matter. It is rich in nutrients and retains moisture in the soil. Humus is the Lati ...

. Diameters are rarely greater than .Paradise, T. R., 2013
Tafoni and Other Rock Basins
in ''Treatise on Geomorphology'', V.4, 111-126 Some panholes were at one time thought to be man-made because their roundness was so perfect they were argued not be natural and must have been shaped by humans. Panholes are most commonly found in desert environments such as the

Colorado Plateau The Colorado Plateau, also known as the Colorado Plateau Province, is a physiographic and desert region of the Intermontane Plateaus, roughly centered on the Four Corners region of the southwestern United States. This province covers an area of ...

. A few well-known panholes are found developed in sandstone surfaces in

Canyonlands National Park Canyonlands National Park is an American national park located in southeastern Utah near the town of Moab. The park preserves a colorful landscape eroded into numerous canyons, mesas, and buttes by the Colorado River, the Green River, and their r ...

, Capitol Reef National Park, and Moab. Panholes are capable of collecting water when it rains, freezing over when the weather gets cold, dry out in hotter weather, and can even contain some species of bacteria,

lichen A lichen ( , ) is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship.blue-green algae. Panholes range in size from a few centimeters to many meters in diameter. The cavities can be shallow or more than deep, containing hundreds of liters of water. The Australian Aboriginal term ''gnamma'', in particular, implies a depression capable of holding water in arid areas, forming an important water resource for Aboriginal people that needed to be carefully maintained. Within the potholes is a varied eco-system that contains bacteria such as cyanobacteria, fungi, and algae which can be referred as biofilm. Potholes do not contain predators like fish or aquatic insect.Davis, Jim, 2013
"What are “Potholes” and how are organisms able to live in them?."
Utah Geological Survey. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Oct 2013. The biofilm breaks down some of the siliceous minerals in the pothole for nutrients resulting in furthering the weathering the pothole. The organisms that live in the potholes have to tolerate rapid change in water temperature, pH, oxygen, carbon dioxide concentration, and ion concentration.

Origin of panholes

In the Sierra Nevada, California these features were termed weathering pits by

François E. Matthes François Émile Matthes ( – ) was a geologist and an expert in topographic mapping, glaciers, and climate change. He mapped remote areas of the Western United States, American West for the United States Geological Survey (USGS). His maps co ...

, where they are thought to indicate rock surfaces that are unglaciated or escaped more recent glaciations. In Sierra Nevada granitic rocks, these features have a characteristic shape such that they expand more rapidly in width than they grow in depth. One explanation for their conformation is because the most active environment for weathering is the zone of alternate wetting and drying along the margins of the pools that collect in the pits, the margins tend to deepen and enlarge until all points of the bottom are equally wet or dry at the same time, thus producing their characteristic shape. Potholes can expand from weathering and erosion but the main activity of how potholes expand is from biological weathering. At one time the belief was that the only agents involved with the expansion of potholes were physical weathering.

Terminology

Australia

In Australia, the terms "gnamma" and "rock hole" (or "rockhole") are used. Gnamma is an anglicisation of a Nyoongar language word, used by that

Aboriginal Aborigine, aborigine or aboriginal may refer to: *Aborigines (mythology), in Roman mythology * Indigenous peoples, general term for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area *One of several groups of indigenous peoples, see ...

people of Western Australia to describe a naturally-formed rock hole as well as its retained rain water. The term "gnamma hole" is also widely used, but is incorrect, being a tautology.

Locations

Australia

* Hiltaba Nature Reserve

United States

*Beam Rocks, Forbes State Forest, Pennsylvania * Glacier Point, Yosemite National Park, California * Navajo National Monument, Arizona * Shenandoah National Park, Virginia * Stone Mountain, Georgia * Stone Mountain (North Carolina), North Carolina

References

{{reflist Landforms Depressions (geology)