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.
Jiaohe City, which belongs to Jilin City, Jilin Province, is located in the east of Jilin Province, at the western foot of Changbai Mountain, adjacent to Dunhua City in the east, Huadian City in the south, Fengman District and Longtan District in Jilin City to the west, and Shulan City and Wuchang City in Heilongjiang Province to the north, with a total area of 6364.15 square kilometers. Jiaohe is rich in resources. 2/3 waters of Songhua Lake are located in the territory, with total water resources of 1.95 billion cubic meters and forest coverage of 63.9%. There are 43 kinds of proven mineral resources and granite reserves of more than 10 billion cubic meters. Changbai Mountain, which is rich in characteristic resources such as edible fungi, wild vegetables, Chinese herbs and forest frogs, enjoys the reputation of "the hometown of Chinese black fungus"; the national AAAA scenic spot Lafa Mountain National Forest Park covers the whole territory. By 2018, Jiaohe City had jurisdiction over 7 streets and 8.