mesas
Southwest iconic landforms
Mesas are flat-topped hills or mountains with steep sides, common in arid regions of the American Southwest.
The word comes from Spanish for table, which describes the shape exactly.
A mesa is smaller than a plateau but larger than a butte—all three share the distinctive flat summit created by erosion of harder rock layers protecting softer stone beneath.
Elevated flat landform
- butteIsolated flat-topped hill
- plateauFlat highland area
- flat-topShort hair, level surface
- escarpmentSteep slope dividing elevations
canyon · cliff · outcrop · pinnacle · promontory · ridge · summit · cuesta
Devoid of water
- cactusSpiny desert plant
- sagebrushAromatic arid-land shrub
- tumbleweedDetached, rolling desert plant
- sunbakedDried by solar heat
parched · barren · dust · drought · scrubland · butte · canyon · arroyo
Gradual wearing away
- sedimentParticles settling in liquid
- strataParallel geological layers
- bedrockSolid stone underground
- sandstoneCemented grain sediment
limestone · shale · alluvium · tectonics · geomorphology · fossil · silicate · outcrop
Communal adobe village
- NavajoSouthwestern indigenous people
- HopiPueblo people of Arizona
- ZuniNative southwestern pueblo-dwellers
- adobeSun-dried clay bricks
kiva · petroglyph · reservation · Arizona · Colorado · Utah · Monument Valley · Four Corners
tableland
Elevated flat landform
escarpment · canyon · cliff · outcrop · pinnacle · promontory · ridge · summit · cuesta · horst
arid
Devoid of water
- cactusSpiny desert plant
- sagebrushAromatic arid-land shrub
- tumbleweedDetached, rolling desert plant
sunbaked · parched · barren · dust · drought · scrubland · butte · canyon · arroyo · badlands
erosion
Gradual wearing away
sandstone · limestone · shale · alluvium · tectonics · geomorphology · fossil · silicate · outcrop · caprock
pueblo
Communal adobe village
- NavajoSouthwestern indigenous people
- HopiPueblo people of Arizona
- ZuniNative southwestern pueblo-dwellers
adobe · kiva · petroglyph · reservation · Arizona · Colorado · Utah · Monument Valley · Four Corners · canyon
- Mesasbuttes, butte
- Front Rangefoothills, Golden, Denver, Morrison, Lakewood
- US geographystates, capitals, state boundaries, state lines, regions
- landformsmountain, cliff, valley, volcano, mountain ridge
- American landscapeprairies, plains, Great Plains, heartland, Midwest
- American SceneryGrand Canyon, Yellowstone, Yosemite, Rocky Mountains, Great Plains
- Mesa VerdeColorado cliff-dwelling preserve