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.
Shangshui County belongs to Zhoukou City, which is located in the southeast of Henan Province, southwest of Zhoukou City, Zhaoling District in the west, Shangcai County in the south, the city in the east, Chuanhui District in the north, and Xihua and Huaiyang in the northwest and northeast. Shangshui County is located in the new urban district subdistrict office and Zhoukou City Chuanhui District connection, there are big and small 3 bus interconnection. The county has jurisdiction over 3 streets, 11 towns, 9 townships and 1 farm, with a total area of 1270 square kilometers, an area of 1.39 million mu of arable land, a total population of 1.238 million, a resident population of 895200, and an urbanization rate of 32.33% (2016). Shangshui County is located in the transitional area of alluvial plain, with flat terrain, high in the northwest and low in the southeast. It is divided into three types: cinnamon soil, fluvo-aquic soil and sandy black soil. The main local products are Dengcheng Ye's pig's hoof, Zhoujiakou beef,