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.
Chaoyang County, which belongs to Chaoyang City, Liaoning Province, is located in the west of Liaoning Province, in the middle and upper reaches of Daling River, bordered by Nanpiao District and Lianshan District of Linghai City and Huludao City in the east and southeast, and adjacent to Jianping, Kazuo and Jianchang in the west and southwest, and bordered by Beipiao and Aohan Banner in Inner Mongolia Autonomous region. It is 109.1 km long from north to south and 76.2km wide from east to west. With a total area of 3757 square kilometers (2013), there are 13 towns and 13 townships under its jurisdiction, with a population of 562628 (2013). In 2013, Chaoyang County achieved a GDP of 146600 yuan. Chaoyang County has split ravines, Nulur Hushan Nature Reserve, Qingfengling and other famous scenic spots.