Dissected plateau this plateau are known as mesas, and long, connected portions are known as potreros. Dissected plateau A dissected plateau is a plateau area that has been severely eroded so that the relief is sharp. Such an area may be referred to as mountainous, but dissected plateaus are distinguishable from orogenic mountain belts by the lack of folding, metamorphism, extensive faulting, or magmatic activity that accompanies orogeny. The Allegheny Plateau, the Cumberland Plateau, the Ozark Plateau, and the Catskill Mountains in the United States and the Blue Mountains in Australia and the Deccan Plateau in India are examples of dissected plateaus
Kaiparowits Plateau identified in the Kaiparowits Formation. As recently as 2007, the characterization of an unusual species of "Gryposaurus", a duck-billed dinosaur, was announced. Fossils of the giant crocodilian Deinosuchus have also been found. Early settlers of the region mined certain parts of the plateau for coal in the 1870s and 1880s. The Spencer mine opened in 1913, reportedly to fuel gold mining activities along the Paria River. In 1965, the Southern California Edison Company proposed the construction of a 3000 megawatt coal-fired generation plant within the Kaiparowits Plateau. Kaiparowits Plateau The Kaiparowits Plateau is a large, elevated landform located in southern