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.
Lingwu, known as Lingzhou in ancient times. Ningxia Hui Autonomous region has jurisdiction over county-level cities, which is the core area of industrial development in Ningxia Hui Autonomous region and Yinchuan City. Lingwu is known as "south of the Yangtze River" and has a long history of civilization. as early as the late Paleolithic Age more than 30,000 years ago, human beings thrived in the magical land of Lingwu, which is one of the birthplaces of the ancient civilization of the Chinese nation. It has been more than 2200 years since Lingwu bought the county in the fourth year of Emperor Huidi of the Western Han Dynasty (191 BC). Lingwu is rich in tourism resources and many places of interest. The famous Shuidonggou is the earliest Paleolithic human cultural site found in China, and is known as "the birthplace of Chinese prehistoric archaeology". The Lingwu dinosaur fossil site 160 million years ago is a large area, concentrated distribution, well-preserved and surrounding environment in China.