A plateau, also called a high plain or tableland, is an area of highland with a broadly flat top that rises sharply above the surrounding land on at least one side, often bordered by steep escarpments or hills. Plateaus form through several different processes, including the upwelling of volcanic magma, the extrusion of lava, movements of tectonic plates, and long term erosion by water and glaciers. Geographers classify plateaus by their surroundings as intermontane, enclosed by fold mountains, piedmont, bordered by mountains on one side and by plains or the sea on the other, or continental, bordered on every side by plains or oceans.
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