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.
Shenza County belongs to Naqu City, Tibet Autonomous region. "Shenza" in Tibetan means white, transparent and flawless refined salt ("Shen" is translated as white and transparent; "Zha" is translated as salt). In ancient times, it was called Nacang Deba. It is located in the south of the hinterland of the northern Tibetan plateau, between the Gangdise Mountains and the second largest lake Lincuo in northern Tibet, with a central location of 88 °38 °E and 30 °57 °N, bounded by the Nianqing Tanggula Mountains in the south, connected with Xigaze City in the south, Shuanghu County in the north, Bangor County in the east and Nima County in the west. It is 520 kilometers away from Lhasa, the capital of Tibet Autonomous region, and 505 kilometers away from Naqu City. In 2015, Shenza County had a total area of 25546 square kilometers; in 2015, it had a total population of 16400; it had jurisdiction over 2 towns and 6 townships; and in the first three quarters of 2015, Shenza County achieved a GDP of 354.