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.
Fugou County, which belongs to Zhoukou City, Henan Province, is located in the East Henan Plain with an area of 1163 square kilometers. as of 2012, Fugou has jurisdiction over 16 townships, 1 industrial agglomeration area and 411 administrative villages. The total population is 743000 (2010). Fugou County was called "Tongqiu" in ancient times, because there are Futing in the east and Yuanshui ditch in the west, each taking a word, so it is called "Fugou". Gao Di of the Western Han Dynasty was first located in the county in 11 years (196 BC), which is one of the birthplaces of the ancient culture of the Yellow River. Fugou County was once regarded as one of the "ten red flags on the agricultural front of Henan Province". In 2010, Fugou County produced a total of 520 million kilograms of grain. Cotton textile manufacturing, machinery manufacturing and food processing have become the three pillar industries in Fugou County. In 2010, the added value of the three pillar industries was 1.39 billion yuan, accounting for more than large-scale industries.