Dissected plateau

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.

Such a plateau may be level or gently sloping but may be distinguished by the till caps on its hills.

[citation needed] Dissected volcanic plateaus include the Pajarito Plateau in New Mexico, on the skirt of the enormous Valles Caldera.

[citation needed] These older uplifts have been eroded by creeks and rivers to develop steep relief not immediately distinguishable from mountains.

[citation needed] Many areas of the Allegheny Plateau and the Cumberland Plateau, which are at the western edge of the Appalachian Mountains of eastern North America, are called "mountains" but are actually dissected plateaus.