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.
Libo County, which belongs to Qiannan Buyi and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, is located in the south of Guizhou Province. The northeast borders Congjiang County and Rongjiang County of Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture, Huanjiang County and Nandan County of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous region in the southeast, Dushan County in the west and Sandu Shui Autonomous County in the north. It covers an area of 2431.8 square kilometers and has a population of 180000 (2016). Libo County has jurisdiction over one street, five towns and two townships, including Zhangjiang National Scenic spot and National Maolan Nature Reserve. The county's GDP in 2015 was 4.53 billion yuan, an increase of 13.3 percent over 2014. In December 2018, Libo County was awarded "China's Top Ten Poverty Alleviation and accurate Poverty Alleviation demonstration counties and cities in 2018". Reconfirm the national health county (township) in 2018.