A mesa is an isolated, flat-topped elevation, ridge or hill, which is bounded from all sides by steep escarpments and stands distinctly above a surrounding plain. Mesas characteristically consist of flat-lying soft sedimentary rocks capped by a more resistant layer or layers of harder rock, e.g. shales overlain by sandstones. The resistant layer acts as a caprock that forms the flat summit of a mesa. The caprock can consist of either sedimentary rocks such as sandstone and limestone; dissected lava flows; or a deeply eroded duricrust. Unlike plateau, whose usage does not imply horizontal layers of bedrock, e.g. Tibetan Plateau, the term mesa applies exclusively to the landforms built of flat-lying strata. Instead, flat-topped plateaus are specifically known as tablelands.
Bowang District, which belongs to Maanshan City, Anhui Province, is located at the easternmost end of Maanshan City, located in the Yangtze River Delta economic circle and Nanjing one-hour metropolitan area, bordering Nanjing Jiangning, Lishui and Gaochun. As of September 2014, Bowang District has jurisdiction over the three towns of Bowang, Xinshi and Danyang, with a total of 37 villages and 3 communities, with a total area of 351square kilometers, a total population of nearly 200000 and a resident population of 172000. Bowang's GDP in 2013 is 7 billion yuan. Bowang area is the national torch plan Bowang shearing machine tool and edge mold industry base, the national shearing machine tool industry well-known brand demonstration area, the national machine tool supervision and inspection center.