Robert H. Gray, age 15, of Port and, Maine, for his question:

Where are mesas found?

The American southwest is the land of the mesas. There the desert winds have carved fantastic designs in the hills. The mesas are hills which look like flat topped tables. Often their steep sides axe carved into steps and terraces. Almost always the terraces are different colored rocks and distant mesas seem to be carved from the rainbow.

The Painted Desert in Arizona is perhaps the most famous stretch of mesa land. Here the terraces are carved from the brightest of rocks, reds, pinks mauves, greys and even tints of green.

Mesas farm in soft sandstone territory with the help of dry desert winds. The wind hurls sand at every little hill, carving and wearing away its sides. The top of the mesa remains flat because it is made of a more durable layer of rock.