ARE ALL POTHOLES MARKERS OF QUATERNARY GLACIATIONS ?
锅穴一定是第四纪冰川的标志吗 *

Numerous publications have shown that potholes with various origins have been well studied in the international geomorphological field.Potholes formed by glacial melting water certainly have been discovered from North America and Scandinavia,where they were covered by ice sheets in the LGM.Potholes however have been also confirmed to be formed by abrading action of pebbles and cobbles that are carried by eddy in turbulent streams,by salt weathering and wind erosion in arid environment,by corrosion in karst areas,and by ocean and lake erosions as well.It is thus dangerous to say,without distinguishing,that all potholes were of glacial origination.The salt weathering and corrosion are results of physical and chemical processes while current and wave erosions are caused by hydraulic power processes.The mechanics of formation of glaco-fluvial pothole was thought to be of no difference from those formed in mountaineous river valleys.They could be explained neither by Moulin Hypothesis nor by Glacial Terminal Fall Hypothesis.Any geomorphological phenomenon should be associated with its geographical environment.