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.
Lingshan County is a county under the jurisdiction of Qinzhou City, Guangxi, located in the south of Guangxi, northeast of Qinzhou City, bordering on Beibu Gulf, adjacent to Nanning and Beihai. It is the sub-center of Pan-Beibu Gulf Economic Zone and the deputy central city of Qinzhou. The county seat is more than 100 kilometers away from Nanning City, Qinzhou City, Beihai City, Fangchenggang City, Yulin City and Guigang City, forming an economic circle of one and a half hours with the six cities and 500 kilometers away from Guangzhou. It is the famous hometown of litchi, dairy buffalo, snake farming and famous tea in China. In addition, Lingshan County is also a famous hometown of fruit, aquatic products and fish and rice. Lingshan County is located on the bank of Qinzhou Bay in the south of Guangxi, located in the upper reaches of Qinjiang River, the northeast of Qinzhou, the coastal core industrial city of Guangxi Beibu Gulf Economic Zone, Hengxian County, Nanning City to the north, Hepu County, Beihai City to the south, and adjacent to the east.