A mesa is an isolated, flat-topped elevation, ridge, or hill, bounded from all sides by steep escarpments and standing distinctly above a surrounding plain. Mesas consist of flat-lying soft sedimentary rocks, such as shales, capped by a resistant layer of harder rock, like sandstone or limestone, forming a caprock that protects the flat summit. The caprock may also include dissected lava flows or eroded duricrust.
Unlike a plateau, which is a broader, elevated region that may not have horizontal bedrock (e.g., Tibetan Plateau), a mesa is defined by flat-lying strata and steep-sided isolation. Large, flat-topped plateaus with horizontal strata, less isolated and often part of extensive plateau systems, are called tablelands. A butte is a smaller, eroded mesa with a limited summit, while a cuesta has a gentle dip slope and one steep escarpment due to tilted strata.
Contents
Names, definition and etymology
As noted by geologist Kirk Bryan in 1922, mesas "...stand distinctly above the surrounding country, as a table stands above the floor upon which it rests". It is from this appearance that the term mesa was adopted from the Spanish word mesa, meaning "table".
A mesa is similar to, but has a more extensive summit area than, a butte. There is no agreed size limit that separates mesas from either buttes or plateaus. For example, the flat-topped mountains which are known as mesas in the Cockburn Range of North Western Australia have areas as large as 350 km2 (140 mi2). In contrast, flat topped hills with areas as small as 0.1 km2 (0.039 mi2) in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains, Germany, are described as mesas.
Less strictly, a very broad, flat-topped, usually isolated hill or mountain of moderate height bounded on at least one side by a steep cliff or slope and representing an erosion remnant also have been called mesas.
In the English-language geomorphic and geologic literature, other terms for mesa have also been used. For example, in the Roraima region of Venezuela, the traditional name, tepui, from the local Pomón language, and the term table mountains have been used to describe local flat-topped mountains. Similar landforms in Australia are known as tablehills, table-top hills, tent hills, or jump ups (jump-ups). The German term Tafelberg has also been used in the English scientific literature in the past.
Formation
Mesas form by weathering and erosion of horizontally layered rocks that have been uplifted by tectonic activity. Variations in the ability of different types of rock to resist weathering and erosion cause the weaker types of rocks to be eroded away, leaving the more resistant types of rocks topographically higher than their surroundings. This process is called differential erosion. The most resistant rock types include sandstone, conglomerate, quartzite, basalt, chert, limestone, lava flows and sills. Lava flows and sills, in particular, are very resistant to weathering and erosion, and often form the flat top, or caprock, of a mesa. The less resistant rock layers are mainly made up of shale, a softer rock that weathers and erodes more easily.
The differences in strength of various rock layers are what give mesas their distinctive shape. Less resistant rocks are eroded away on the surface into valleys, where they collect water drainage from the surrounding area, while the more resistant layers are left standing out. A large area of very resistant rock, such as a sill, may shield the layers below it from erosion while the softer rock surrounding it is eroded into valleys, thus forming a caprock.
Differences in rock type also reflect on the sides of a mesa, as instead of smooth slopes, the sides are broken into a staircase pattern called "cliff-and-bench topography". The more resistant layers form the cliffs, or stairsteps, while the less resistant layers form gentle slopes, or benches, between the cliffs. Cliffs retreat and are eventually cut off from the main cliff, or plateau, by basal sapping. When the cliff edge does not retreat uniformly but instead is indented by headward eroding streams, a section can be cut off from the main cliff, forming a mesa.
Basal sapping occurs when water flowing around the rock layers of the mesa erodes the underlying soft shale layers, either as surface runoff from the mesa top or from groundwater moving through permeable overlying layers, which leads to slumping and flowage of the shale. As the underlying shale erodes away, it can no longer support the overlying cliff layers, which collapse and retreat. When the caprock has caved away to the point where only little remains, it is known as a butte.
Examples and locations
Australia
Cockburn Range, Western Australia
Mount Conner, Northern Territory
Czechia
Děčínský Sněžník, Ústí nad Labem Region
France
Mont Aiguille, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Germany
Königstein, Saxony
Lilienstein, Saxony
Papststein, Saxony
Pfaffenstein, Saxony
Quirl, Saxony
India
Several near Owk mandal, Andhra Pradesh
Iraq
Amadiya, Kurdistan Region
Ireland
Benbulbin, County Sligo
Knocknarea, County Sligo
Knocknashee, County Sligo
Israel
Masada, Southern District
Har Qatum
Italy
Monte Santo, Sardinia
Poland
Szczeliniec Wielki, Lower Silesian Voivodeship
United Kingdom
Castle Folds, Cumbria
Cross Fell, Cumbria
Goldsborough Carr, County Durham
Higger Tor, South Yorkshire
Ingleborough, North Yorkshire
Pen-y-ghent, North Yorkshire
Shacklesborough, County Durham
Healabhal Mhòr, Isle of Skye
United States
Many but not all American mesas lie within the Basin and Range Province.
Anderson Mesa
Black Mesa (Apache-Navajo Counties)
Black Mesa (Navajo County)
Black Mesa (Warm Springs)
Black Mountain
Cummings Mesa
First Mesa
Horseshoe Mesa
Indian Mesa
Second Mesa
Mount Magazine
Redonda Mesa
Battlement Mesa
Grand Mesa - largest flat-topped mountain in the world.
Green Mountain
Log Hill Mesa
North Table Mountain
Raton Mesa
Mormon Mesa
Pahute Mesa
Black Mesa
Mesa de Maya
Floating Mesa
Llano Estacado
Checkerboard Mesa
Crazy Quilt Mesa
On Mars
A transitional zone on Mars, known as fretted terrain, lies between highly cratered highlands and less cratered lowlands. The younger lowland exhibits steep walled mesas and knobs. The mesa and knobs are separated by flat lying lowlands. They are thought to form from ice-facilitated mass wasting processes from ground or atmospheric sources. The mesas and knobs decrease in size with increasing distance from the highland escarpment. The relief of the mesas range from nearly 2 km (1.2 mi) to 100 m (330 ft) depending on the distance they are from the escarpment.