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.
Yindu District, which belongs to Anyang City, Henan Province, is located in the northwest of Anyang City. It is the site of the Yin ruins, the world cultural heritage, and the discovery site of the earliest mature character oracle inscriptions in China. The Beijing-Guangzhou Railway and National Highway 107 run through the north and south, and the Huanghe River runs through the east and west. The middle route of the South-to-North Water transfer Project runs through the whole region. It belongs to the continental monsoon climate of the north warm temperate zone. By the end of 2018, Yindu District has jurisdiction over 9 streets, 1 township, a total of 298 administrative villages and 46 communities, with a total area of 687 square kilometers and a resident population of 710000. The district government is stationed at the intersection of Meidong Road and Meiyuan Road. In 2018, the GDP of Yindu District was 33.217 billion yuan, the added value of industries above scale was 10.44 billion yuan, the total retail sales of consumer goods was 10.864 billion yuan, and the general public budget income was 1.825 billion yuan.