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.
Luotian County, which belongs to Huanggang City, Hubei Province, is an important part of Wuhan city circle. It is located in the northeast of Hubei Province and at the southern foot of the Dabie Mountains, bordering Yingshan to the east, Lianshui to the south, Tuanfeng and Macheng to the west, and Jinzhai County in Anhui Province to the north. Luotian County belongs to the subtropical monsoon climate. Luotian is a mountainous area, an old county and a national key county for poverty alleviation and development. As of 2016, Luotian County covers an area of 2144 square kilometers, including 380000 mu of arable land and 2.2 million mu of mountain forest. In 2016, there were 630000 registered residents and 552000 permanent residents. In 2016, the gross domestic product of Luotian County reached 12.179 billion yuan. October 2017, named by the Ministry of Housing and Construction