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A mesa is a separated, flat-topped elevation, ridge or hill, which is bounded from all sides by steep escarpments and stands clearly above a surrounding plain. Mesas typically include 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 top of a mesa. The caprock can consist of either sedimentary rocks such as sandstone and limestone; dissected lava circulations; or a deeply deteriorated duricrust. Unlike plateau, whose use does not suggest horizontal layers of bedrock, e.g. Tibetan Plateau, the term mesa uses exclusively to the landforms constructed of flat-lying strata. Instead, flat-topped plateaus are specifically called tablelands.

As kept in mind by Bryan in 1922, mesas "... stand clearly above the surrounding country, as a table stands above the flooring upon which it rests". It is from this appearance the term mesa was embraced from the Spanish word mesa meaning "table".

A mesa is comparable to, however has a more comprehensive top area than, a butte. There is no concurred size limitation that separates mesas from either plateaus or buttes.

Less strictly, a really 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 likewise have been called mesas.

In the English language geomorphic and geologic literature, other terms for mesa have actually also been used. For instance, in the Roraima region of Venezuela, the conventional name, tepui, from the local Pomón language, and the term table mountains have actually been utilized to explain local flat-topped mountains. Comparable landforms in Australia are understood as tablehills, table-top hills, tent hills, or jump ups (jump-ups). The German term Tafelberg has actually likewise been utilized in the English clinical literature in the past.

Mesas type by weathering and erosion of horizontally layered rocks that have been boosted by tectonic activity. Variations in the ability of various kinds of rock to withstand weathering and disintegration trigger the weaker types of rocks to be eroded away, leaving the more resistant types of rocks topographically higher than their surroundings. This procedure is called differential erosion. The most resistant rock types consist of sandstone, corporation, quartzite, basalt, chert, limestone, lava flows and sills. Lava flows and sills, in particular, are extremely resistant to weathering and erosion, and frequently form the flat top, or caprock, of a mesa. The less resistant rock layers are mainly comprised of shale, a softer rock that weathers and deteriorates more easily.

The distinctions in strength of different rock layers are what provide mesas their distinctive shape. Less resistant rocks are deteriorated away on the surface area into valleys, where they collect water drainage from the surrounding location, while the more resistant layers are left sticking out. A large area of very resistant rock, such as a sill, might shield the layers below it from erosion while the softer rock surrounding it is deteriorated into valleys, therefore forming a caprock.

Differences in rock type likewise show on the sides of a mesa, as rather of smooth slopes, the sides are broken into a staircase pattern called "cliff-and-bench topography". The more resistant layers form the cliffs, or stair actions, while the less resistant layers form gentle slopes, or benches, in between the cliffs.

Basal sapping occurs as water flowing around the rock layers of the mesa deteriorates the underlying soft shale layers, either as surface area runoff from the mesa top or from groundwater moving through permeable overlying layers, which results in plunging and flowage of the shale. As the underlying shale wears down away, it can no longer support the overlying cliff layers, which collapse and retreat. When the caprock has actually caved away to the point where only little remains, it is called a butte.

The younger lowland exhibits steep walled mesas and knobs. The mesa and knobs are separated by flat lying lowlands. The mesas and knobs reduce in size with increasing distance from the highland escarpment.

The resistant layer acts as a caprock that forms the flat top of a mesa. Lava flows and sills, in specific, are extremely resistant to weathering and disintegration, and often form the flat top, or caprock, of a mesa. The distinctions in strength of various rock layers are what give mesas their distinct shape. Differences in rock type also reflect on the sides of a mesa, as rather of smooth slopes, the sides are broken into a staircase pattern called "cliff-and-bench topography". Basal sapping occurs as water flowing around the rock layers of the mesa deteriorates the hidden soft shale layers, either as surface area overflow from the mesa top or from groundwater moving through permeable overlying layers, which leads to dropping and flowage of the shale.