Thegoalofthisstudyistoprovideinformationontheprocessofpotholegrowthonagorgestreambed.PotholegeometriesweremeasuredinareachoftheDaburiverbedattheheadofagorgemorethan200mdeeplyincisingintoa650-750mhighplanationsurfaceformedinthemiddleMioceneinnorthernGuangdong,China.Geometricandderivativedataofthepotholesobtainedfromfieldworkwereinterpretedusingstandardstatisticalmethodologies.Ourstudyshowsthattheformationanddevelopmentofastreampotholewereonlyrelatedtolocalconditionsofastreamreachwherethepotholeoccurs;theweaknesses,whichareusuallyintersectfractures,typicallyinterconnectedverticaljoints,ortriangularpitsgeneratedbyhittingofrockfragmentsduringfloods,initiatethepotholedevelopmentonastreambed;thegeometricaldimensionsofthepotholesarecontrolledbytectonicjointsdevelopedinbedrockofthestreamreach;theradiusandthedepthofpotholesarestrongly(log)positivecorrelated;thepotholeshapesandtheflowpatternsareinconstantduringpotholegrowth;apotholecanbeformedwithinashortperiod,butcannotbefullydevelopedandmaintainedforalongtimeinastrongincisionstreambed.ThefindinginourstudycanimprovetheunderstandingofQuaternaryenvironmentinGuangdong.
