Mesas
While the word plateau is the French word that means table land the word mesa is the Spanish word that means table. This is because they are found in the southwestern part of the United States. Mesas are common here because the climate has the ideal conditions for mesas and buttes to form. Spanish explorers discovered the land there and used this word to describe these land forms because they are relatively flat at the top and have a table like structure because their width typically exceeds their height (National geographic, Mesa).
Mesas are very similar to plateaus but they are more common in area that have horizontal rock layers. A mesa can be a mountain or a hill with very steep rising sides. They are elevated from the land that surrounds them and are shaped by water erosion mostly. Streams and rivers move through the land and remove softened rock along the sides (National geographic, Mesa). An example of a mesa is the Great Mesa, which is considered the largest mesa in the world, is found in Colorado where the dry climate as well as the horizontal rock layers are ideal for mesa formation.
While the word plateau is the French word that means table land the word mesa is the Spanish word that means table. This is because they are found in the southwestern part of the United States. Mesas are common here because the climate has the ideal conditions for mesas and buttes to form. Spanish explorers discovered the land there and used this word to describe these land forms because they are relatively flat at the top and have a table like structure because their width typically exceeds their height (National geographic, Mesa).
Mesas are very similar to plateaus but they are more common in area that have horizontal rock layers. A mesa can be a mountain or a hill with very steep rising sides. They are elevated from the land that surrounds them and are shaped by water erosion mostly. Streams and rivers move through the land and remove softened rock along the sides (National geographic, Mesa). An example of a mesa is the Great Mesa, which is considered the largest mesa in the world, is found in Colorado where the dry climate as well as the horizontal rock layers are ideal for mesa formation.