Shaded relief map of Cumberland Plateau and Ridge and Valley Appalachians on the Virginia/West Virginia border

A dissected plateau is an area that has been uplifted, then severely eroded so that the relief is sharp. Such an area may be referred to as mountainous, but dissected plateaus are distinguishable from true mountains by lack of folding, metamorphism, extensive faulting, or magmatic activity that accompanies orogeny. The Allegheny Plateau, the Cumberland Plateau, the Ozark Plateau, and the Catskill Mountains (despite the name) are examples of dissected plateaus.