• Mesa
  • Wusu

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.

Wusu City is located in the northwest of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous region, adjoining Karamay City, Kuitun City and Shawan County in the east, Nilke County in the south, Jinghe County in the west and Tori County in the north. The total area of the city is 14393.94 square kilometers, with a total population of 230000 (2012). There are Kazakh, Han, Uygur, Hui, Mongolian and other ethnic groups. It has jurisdiction over 5 streets, 10 towns and 7 townships (including 2 ethnic townships). Wusu was once the territory of the Heshuote tribe of Mongolia, and the Mongolian word "Kurkarawusu", which means "snow and black water", was included in the territory of the motherland as early as the Western Han Dynasty, and later troops were stationed here in the Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. Since the early years of the Qing Dynasty, there has been a prosperous ancient post station located on the shore of Xiushui. Court officials and merchants who come and go from east to west
Travel Sights In Wusu
Travel Notes In Wusu