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.
Xinqiu District, Fuxin City, Liaoning Province, is located in western Liaoning, 14 kilometers at the northeast end of Fuxin city center. Xinqiu District is the east exit of Fuxin City, 170 kilometers east from Shenyang Taoxian Airport, 150 kilometers west to Jinzhou Port and 400 kilometers south to Dalian. In 2013, Xinqiu District achieved a GDP of 3.5 billion yuan, fixed asset investment of 8 billion yuan, public budget income of 415 million yuan, per capita disposable income of urban residents reached 16000 yuan, and per capita net income of rural residents reached 11333 yuan, an increase of 13% over the same period last year. As of 2013, Xinqiu District has jurisdiction over 4 streets and 1 town. The total land area is 141.7 square kilometers, of which the urban area is 24.83 square kilometers; the total population is 96000, including the non-agricultural population