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.
Mengla County, one of the counties under the jurisdiction of Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan Province, is located in the southeast of Xishuangbanna Autonomous Prefecture, with a total area of 7056 square kilometers. Mengla County is half-covered by Laos in the east and south, facing Myanmar across the Lancang River in the southwest, Jinghong City, the capital of the Autonomous Prefecture in the northwest, and Jiangcheng Hani and Yi Autonomous County in Pu'er City to the north. In 2010, the total population of Mengla County was 281700. Mengla County is one of the counties inhabited by ethnic minorities. A total of 26 ethnic minorities thrive here, accounting for 70% of the total population of the county. The main ethnic minorities are Dai, Hani, Yao and Yi. In 2013, Mengla County had jurisdiction over 7 towns and 3 townships (including 2 ethnic townships), with a total of 4 communities and 52 administrative villages. In 2011, Mengla County completed