Mesa Prieta is a

mesa A mesa is an isolated, flat-topped elevation, ridge, or hill, bounded from all sides by steep escarpments and standing distinctly above a surrounding plain. Mesas consist of flat-lying soft sedimentary rocks, such as shales, capped by a ...

Sandoval County Sandoval County () is a county located in the U.S. state of New Mexico. As of the 2020 census, the population was 148,834, making it the fourth-most populous county in New Mexico. The county seat is Bernalillo. Sandoval County is part of th ...

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

. The mesa was formed by a basaltic lava, lava flow during the Pliocene. The sedimentary rocks include the Cretaceous Dakota Sandstone, Mancos Shale, and Gallup Sandstone.Dillinger, J. K., 1990.
Geologic map of the Grants 30' x 60' quadrangle, west-central New Mexico
', U.S. Geological Survey, Coal Investigations Map C-118-A. Map Scale: 1:100,000. The Rio Puerco (Rio Grande tributary), Rio Puerco flows south on the west side of the mesa. The Ojito Wilderness is to the east of the mesa, and Cabezon Peak is to the north.

References

{{Sandoval County, New Mexico Mesas of New Mexico Landforms of Sandoval County, New Mexico