Plateau and Meseta are redirections to this article. For other meanings, see Plateau (disambiguation) and Iberian Meseta.
Plateau (also Hochfläche, Plateau or Hochplateau, in the Spanish-speaking region Meseta, in the Portuguese region Planalto) generally refers to a large-scale mass elevation that has much smaller relative differences in altitude compared to (neighbouring) mountains. Plateaus in the narrower sense are characterized by flat or gently rolling terrain. Plateaus within large mountain regions, on the other hand, are only relatively lower than surrounding high mountains, since in addition to more or less large flatland areas, mountain ranges several hundred metres high can also occur.
As a minimum height above sea level and demarcation from the lowlands, 200 m are usually specified. Upwards no limits are set. The highest plateaus on earth are found in the highlands of Tibet and in the Andes, where they reach altitudes of 4000 or 5000 metres. Despite these enormous heights, plateaus are not considered mountains per se.
Plateaus are formed either as unfractured intra-montane mass elevations in the centre of large (young) fold mountains or by levelling of older trunk mountains. Inner-montane plateaus are often interrupted by central subsidence areas or sedimentary basins.
The summit region of a ridge may also be called a plateau or high plateau if the term table mountain is not appropriate because of the moderate slope of the slopes.
There is no fixed definition of plateaus, and the subdivisions sometimes made in the literature may vary from author to author.
Plateaus and plateaux are among the major landforms that form the Earth's macrorelief.
