Deuteronilus Mensae is situated at the transition from the rugged and cratered southern highlands to the smooth northern lowlands, referred to as the Martian hemispheric dichotomy. The landscape here at the dichotomy boundary was deeply eroded by fluvial, mass wasting and in particular ice related processes. Fretting and dissection of the ancient highland material resulted in the formation of isolated mesas with plateau-like surfaces, constituting eroded remnants of the plains that once extended further to the north.