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A plunge pool (or plunge basin or waterfall lake) is a deep depression in a stream bed at the base of a waterfall or shut-in. It is created by the erosion forces of cascading water on the rocks at the formation's base where the water impacts.Marshak, Stephen, 2009, Essentials of Geology, W. W. Norton & Company, 3rd ed. The term may refer to the water occupying the depression, or the depression itself.Robert L Bates, Julia A Jackson, ed. Dictionary of Geological Terms: Third Edition, p. 391, American Geological Institute (1984)
Plunge pools are fluvial features of erosion which occur in the youthful stage of river development, characterized by steeper Stream gradient and faster water flows. Where softer or fractured rock has been eroded back to a knickpoint, water continues to bombard its base. Because this rock is often less resistant than overlying strata, the water from the higher elevation continues eroding downward until an equilibrium is achieved.
A somewhat similar bowl-shaped feature developed by flowing water, as opposed to falling water, is known as a scour hole. These occur both naturally and as a result of Bridge scour.
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