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.
Habahe County, Altay Prefecture, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous region is located at the southern foot of Altai Mountain, the northwestern edge of Xinjiang, bordering Kazakhstan in the west and Russia in the north. The border is 320 kilometers long, and it is adjacent to Burjin County and Jimunai County in the east and south. As of 2014, Habahe County has a total area of 8185 square kilometers and has jurisdiction over 113 administrative villages in 6 townships and 1 town. 87000 people from 22 ethnic groups, including Kazakhstan, Han and Hui, live in Habahe County, of which 69.6% are ethnic minorities. There are some troops stationed in the county and 185 regiments of the 10th Agricultural Division of the bingtuan. Habahe County is one of the important non-ferrous metal reserves in China. 32 kinds of minerals have been discovered, especially famous for their large reserves and high grade of copper and gold. The economy of Habahe County is mainly agriculture and animal husbandry and non-ferrous metal mining and dressing industry, and has won the national health county and national garden county.