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.
Huoqiu County, which belongs to Lu'an City, Anhui Province, is located in the west of Anhui Province. It borders Sanhejian Town, Xuji and Chenji in Gushi County, Henan Province in the west, Fuyang across the Huaihe River in the north, Lu'an City in the east, Shouxian County in the east, and Jinzhai in the south, with a total area of 3239 square kilometers. Huoqiu County is located at the northern foot of the Dabie Mountains, the south bank of the middle reaches of the Huaihe River, high in the south and low in the north, low hilly areas in the south, plains, lakes and rivers in the north, and the south bank of the middle reaches of the Huaihe River. In 2018, Huoqiu County has jurisdiction over 21 towns and 9 townships, with one development zone and one village under the jurisdiction of the Fisheries Bureau, with a resident population of 1.198 million and a regional gross domestic product (GDP) of 22.74 billion yuan. In terms of sub-industries, the added value of the primary industry is 5.16 billion yuan, and the added value of the secondary industry is 78.