• Mesa
  • Ya'an

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.

Ya'an, a prefecture-level city of Sichuan Province, is located at the western edge of Sichuan Basin and the eastern foot of Qionglai Mountain, with Chengdu, Ganzi to the east, Liangshan to the south and Aba to the north, 120km away from Chengdu; it belongs to the mountainous area on the western edge of Sichuan Basin, spanning the Sichuan Basin and the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau; the climate type is subtropical monsoon humid climate; the total area of the city is 15046 square kilometers, under the jurisdiction of 2 districts and 6 counties; the total population in 2017 is 1.5378 million. Ya'an is located at the intersection of Sichuan-Tibet and Sichuan-Yunnan Highway, 120 kilometers away from Chengdu. It is the transition zone between Sichuan Basin and Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the transition zone between Han culture and national culture, and the transition zone between modern central city and primitive natural ecological area. it was the gateway and necessary road of the ancient southern Silk Road and was once the capital of Xikang Province. It is the history and culture of Sichuan Province.
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