此处石柱属于张家界地貌的晚年期地貌景观。幼年期，流水沿石英砂岩内发育的相互交错的节理下切，形成初始方山及条状山脊；壮年期，区域性掀斜抬升导致，侵蚀基准面下降，河流垂直下切与溯源侵蚀交替进行，水网密度加大，使初始方山、岩柱进一步增高，并且因垂直节理产生切割岩体造成崩塌，形成岩柱等景观；晚年期，地壳处于稳定状态，随着河流的侧蚀作用及搬运堆积作用，岩峰、岩柱高度逐渐被削低、体积变小，形成了类似此处的砂岩石柱景观。
This stone pillar is a landscape belonging to the old stage of Zhangjiajie Landform. Long, long time ago, flowing water cut down along several crossing joints developed in the quartz sandstone, forming the mesas and peak-shaped ridges. Then, the earth’s crust uplifted, the base level of water-cutting dropped, the river cutting process and headward erosion process worked alternately, and the density of the river network increased, making the mesas grow taller. As rock pieces collapsed along the vertical joints, the stone pillars were formed. Later, because of fluvial erosion and transportation processes, the peaks and stone pillars became shorter and smaller, forming the sandstone pillar landscape.
冲沟是由间断流水在地表冲刷形成的沟槽。冲沟是侵蚀沟中规模最大的一种，长度可达数千米或数十千米，深度可达数米或数十米，有时可达百米以上。冲沟在丘陵和山区很普遍。
A gully is a groove formed by erosion of interval water flow in ground surface. A gully can be thousands to tens of thousands of meters long, and meters to a hundred meters deep. Gullies can be commonly seen in hilly and mountainous areas.
山崖的陡立面。
崖壁的生成条件主要包括以下四个方面：
1.岩层中垂直节理发育。张家界的石英砂岩垂直节理十分发育。
2.岩性坚硬。张家界的石英砂岩主要矿物是硬度较高的石英。
3.岩层抬升幅度大。张家界区域经过了多次地壳运动使得砂岩地层得以多次被抬升。
4.外力作用强烈。张家界崖壁形成的外力作用主要是流水下切、重力崩塌作用、生化作用和物理风化作用。
This is the steep face of a cliff.
The formation of a cliff requires the following conditions:
1.Developed vertical joints in the rock stratum. Vertical joints are very well-developed in the quartz sandstone in Zhangjiajie.
2.Hard lithologic character. The main mineral composing the quartz sandstone in Zhangjiajie is quartz, which is of high hardness.
3.Big range of stratum uplift. Zhangjiajie area went through multiple crustal movements though its sandstone stratum was uplifted for multiple times.
4.Intense exogenic action. The exogenic processes causing the forming of the cliffs in Zhangjiajie mainly include undercutting by flowing water, gravitational collapse, biochemical action and physical weathering.
石峰呈方柱状，棱角分明，且壁面相互垂直，构景岩层为中泥盆纪云台观组石英砂岩（D2y），是在两组垂直的节理控制下因流水垂直侵蚀、崩塌以及风化等作用形成的。峰柱是方山平台向峰丛、峰林演化的过渡阶段。The stone peak is a square rock column with clear corner angles. And the walls are perpendicular to each other.The rock stratum is quartz sandstone of Yuntai-guan Formation of Devonian system. It is formed by the control of two sets of joints perpendicular to each other. It represents the transitional stage between the mesa plain to the peak forest.
潭，水深之处。紫草潭原名“纸草潭”，因清代山民造土纸在此漂洗而得名。又因潭谷为紫红色砂岩，经流水积年累月冲刷成槽状，而名为：“紫”草潭。潭长约10米，宽约2-3米，深5米。
A pond is a deep pool. Zicao Pond, formerly known as Zhicao (Papyrus) Pond, as it used to be the place where the local people rinsed hand-made paper in the Qing Dynasty. Because this pond was formed from a groove in the purple-red sandstone scoured by the flowing water, its name was changed to Zicao (purple) Pond. It is about 10m long, 2-3m wide and 5m deep.
在河流形成的初期和河流的上游，流水的侵蚀有下切和侧蚀两种，下切变深，侧蚀变宽，上部侵蚀早，下部侵蚀晚，所以上大下小，形成的V型谷。金鞭溪在河流的下游以沉积为主，水流平缓侧蚀为主，基本没有下切，形成宽广的U型谷。
At the upstream in the early stage a river is formed, the fluvial erosion process includes undercutting and lateral erosion. Undercutting makes the river deeper and lateral erosion makes it wider. Because the upper part of the rock stratum is eroded earlier than the bottom part, a V-shaped valley is formed. Because the Golden Whip Brook is at the downstream of the river, sedimentation process prevails, and the gentle flow causes mainly lateral erosion and barely any undercutting, so a wide U-shaped valley was formed.
夫妻岩因两座石峰紧相依偎，酷似—男—女，耳鬓厮磨，窃窃细语而得名。它是流水沿岩石中发育的裂隙垂直向下侵蚀以及崩塌、风化等作用形成的。
The two stone peaks standing closely together resemble a husband and his wife whispering to each other. The landscape was formed by fluvial erosion along the fissures in the rock as well as gravitational collapse.
志留系小溪组（S3+4x）命名剖面来源于张家界市桑植县瑞塔铺，地层形成于志留纪晚期（4.282亿年前），属前滨沙滩至河口湾沉积相。岩性以灰绿、黄绿色厚中层状砂岩为主，夹少量灰绿色砂质泥（页）岩，富含大型虫管遗迹化石，层内斜层理、交错层理发育。
Silurian System Xiaoxiyu（S3+4x） Formation is named after ruitapu, Zhangjiajie City. The rock was formed 428.2 million years ago from the sedimentation at foreshore beach to estuary. The strata are mainly of grayish green and yellow-green medium-thick layered sandstone, with a little grayish green sandy mudshale containing ichthyolite (fish fossils). It is characterized by abundant sandy wormtrail tube structures as well as developed oblique bedding and cross bedding.
是一处由三条溪水环绕着的芳草萋萋的绿洲，站在绿洲上环顾四周，可见东、西、北三个方向共有四大峡谷，谷口如石门，谷内重峦叠嶂，神秘幽深，故名“水绕四门”。 Three brooks flow around an oasis, on which one can see four gorges on the east, the west and the north, with the mouths of gorges looking like four stone gates. Within the gorges there are deep forest and multiple layers of hills, mysterious and deep and quite, thus known as “Four Gates around the Brooks”.