mesa

A mesa is a landform characterized by a flat-topped summit bounded by steep sides. It forms when a resistant cap rock protects softer layers beneath from erosion, leaving an elevated, tabletop-like feature. The name comes from the Spanish word mesa, meaning table.

Geologically, mesas occur worldwide, with notable concentrations on the Colorado Plateau in North America and in parts of Africa, Australia, and South America. They vary in size and height, and their cliffs expose the stratigraphy of the surrounding country rock. Erosion at their bases tends to produce vertical escarpments, and over long timescales mesas may fragment into smaller features such as buttes.

In geography and urban planning, Mesa is also the name of a major city in Arizona, United States. Located in the Phoenix metropolitan area, it is among the state's largest municipalities.

In computing, Mesa refers to the Mesa 3D Graphics Library, an open-source collection of graphics drivers and libraries that implement APIs such as OpenGL, OpenGL ES, and Vulkan. It includes driver backends for a wide range of GPUs and is central to the Linux graphics stack.

Other uses include the Spanish word for table and its occurrence in place names and organizations, such as Mesa Airlines.