• Mesa
  • Jingchuan County

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.

Jingchuan County, which belongs to Pingliang City, Gansu Province, is located at the junction of Qinlong in the middle of the Loess Plateau, longitude 107 °15 "107 °45" east, latitude 35 °11 "35 °31" north. It is bordered by Ning County and Changwu County in Shaanxi Province in the east, Chongxin County and Kongtong District in the west, Lingtai County in the south and Zhenyuan County in the north. It is 57 kilometers from east to west and 36 kilometers from north to south, with a total area of 1409.3 square kilometers (2012). With a population of 283200 (2013), the GDP of Jingchuan County reached 4.553 billion yuan in 2013. Jingchuan County, the best suitable area for high-quality apples in the country, occupies the backbone of the ancient Silk Road and is the hinterland of Chinese civilization. Since ancient times, it has been the first important town from Changan to the western region. The famous scenic spots include Huishan Queen Mother Palace, Yaochi, Queen Mother Palace Grottoes and so on.
Travel Sights In Jingchuan County
Travel Notes In Jingchuan County