Mesas in the Glass Mountains of western Oklahoma. The Glass Mountains or Gloss Mountains are a series of Mesas in Major County Oklahoma, stretching west along US Highway 412 Oklahoma ( is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America.

Several mesas near Los Alamos, New Mexico. Los Alamos (Los Álamos meaning "The Cottonwoods quot is a Townsite and Census-designated place (CDP in Los Alamos County,

Tucumcari Mountain is a mesa outside of Tucumcari, New Mexico. Tucumcari Mountain, once referred to as Tucumcari Peak, is a Mesa situated just outside of Tucumcari New Mexico. This article is about the city in New Mexico USA For other uses see Tucumcari (disambiguation.

A mesa (Spanish and Portuguese for "table") is an elevated area of land with a flat top and sides that are usually steep cliffs. Portuguese ( or língua portuguesa) is a Romance language that originated in what is now Galicia (Spain and northern Portugal. It takes its name from its characteristic table-top shape. It is a characteristic landform of arid environments, particularly the southwestern United States. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Many examples are also found in Spain, North and South Africa, Arabia, India, Australia, and the Badlands and Colorado regions of North America. Badlands are a type of Arid Terrain where softer sedimentary rocks and Clay -rich Soils have been extensively eroded by Wind The largest mesa in the world is considered to be the Grand Mesa in western Colorado in the United States. The Grand Mesa is a large geologic formation in western Colorado in the United States. The State of Colorado ( or chiefly by nonresidents) is a state located in the Rocky Mountain region of the United States of America. Urraca Mesa in northern New Mexico is particularly famous for being "haunted" in local tradition. Urraca Mesa is a large Mesa located in northern New Mexico on the property of Philmont Scout Ranch. New Mexico ( is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States of America.

Formation of a Mesa

Mesas form in areas where horizontally layered rocks are uplifted by tectonic activity. This article discusses the geologic usage for the philosophical or architectural usage see Architectonics ' Or see Plate tectonics. 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 relative to their surroundings. Weathering is the decomposition of earth rocks, Soils and their Minerals through direct contact with the planet's Atmosphere. Erosion is the carrying away or displacement of solids ( Sediment, Soil, rock and other particles usually by the agents of currents such as wind ^[1] This process is called differential erosion. The most resistant rock types include sandstone, conglomerate, quartzite, chert, limestone, lava flows and sills. Sandstone is a Sedimentary rock composed mainly of Sand -size Mineral or rock grains. A conglomerate (kɒnˈglɒmərət is a rock consisting of individual stones that have become cemented together Quartzite (from German Quarzit) not to be confused with the Mineral Quartz, is a hard Metamorphic rock which was originally Chert (ˈtʃɝt is a fine-grained Silica -rich Microcrystalline, Cryptocrystalline or Microfibrous Sedimentary rock that may contain Limestone is a Sedimentary rock composed largely of the Mineral Calcite ( Calcium carbonate: CaCO3 Lava is molten rock expelled by a Volcano during an eruption When first expelled from a volcanic vent it is a Liquid at Temperatures In Geology, a sill is a tabular Pluton that has intruded between older layers of Sedimentary rock, beds of Volcanic ^[1] 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. ^[1]

The differences in strength of various rock layers is what gives 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. ^[1] 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. In Geology, a sill is a tabular Pluton that has intruded between older layers of Sedimentary rock, beds of Volcanic 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. "^[1] The more resistant layers form the cliffs, or stair steps, 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. In Geology and Earth science, a plateau, also called a high plateau or tableland, is an area of highland, usually consisting 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. Headward erosion is a Fluvial process of Erosion that lengthens a Stream, a Valley or a Gully at its head and also ^[1] Basal sapping occurs as 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. Surface runoff is a term used to describe when soil is infiltrated to full capacity and excess Water, from Rain, Snowmelt, or other sources flows Groundwater is Water located beneath the Ground surface in Soil pore spaces and in the Fractures of lithologic formations Slump is a form of Mass wasting event that occurs when loosely consolidated materials or rock layers move a short distance down a slope ^[2] 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 a little remains, it is known as a butte. A butte (bjut is an isolated Hill with steep often vertical sides and a small flat top smaller than Mesas Plateaus and tables In some

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Easterbrook, Don J. (1999). Surface Processes and Landforms. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Prentice Hall is a leading educational publisher It is an Imprint of Pearson Education Inc  
2. ^ Choreley, Richard J. ; Stanley A. Schumm, David E. Sugden (1985). Geomorphology. New York: Methuen.