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.
Gongzhuling City, a county-level city directly administered by Jilin Province, is located in the central and western part of Jilin Province and on the right bank of the middle reaches of Dongliao River. It is located between longitude 124 °02'to 125 °18'E and latitude 43 °11''to 44 °09'e north. The easternmost point starts from Liuxiaowobao Village, Xiangshui Town, the westernmost point ends at Weizilitun, the village of Sangshutai Town, the southernmost point starts from Erlongtun, the construction village of Longshan Township, and the northernmost point ends at Paozi Village, Manao Village, Shuangchengbao Town. The city is 106km wide from east to west and 111km from north to south, with a total area of 4058 square kilometers. The city is connected with Yitong Manchu Autonomous County in the south and southeast, Chaoyang District and Nong'an County in Changchun City in the east and northeast, Changling County in the north, Shuangliao City in the west and Lishu County in the east. The city is vast, wide in the north and narrow in the south, like a crescent, on the banks of the East Liao River.