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.
Xingcheng City, which belongs to Huludao City, Liaoning Province, is located in the southwest of Liaoning Province, on the west bank of Liaodong Bay, and in the middle of "Liaoxi Corridor". It is bordered by the Bohai Sea in the southeast, the hills of the Yirehe River in the northeast, Lianshan District of Huludao City and Longgang District in the northeast, Liugu River in the southwest and Suizhong in the southwest, and Jianchang in the northwest. The city has a total area of 2113 square kilometers and has jurisdiction over 28 townships, towns and streets with a total population of 543000. Xingcheng is a national key scenic spot, an excellent tourist city in China, a hot spring city in China, a hometown of Chinese calligraphy, a famous city in Chinese swimsuit, and a famous historical and cultural city in Liaoning Province. ...