Flat areas I located in maps (6)
I believe the answer is:
plains
'flat' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'i located in maps' is the wordplay.
'located in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'maps' becomes 'plans' (I've seen this in another clue).
'i' going inside 'plans' is 'PLAINS'.
'areas' is the link.
I am not very happy about this link. It may be part of another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for plains that I've seen before include "Flats" , "Spinal (anag.)" , "Large areas of level country" , "Large tracks of level land" , "Large areas of flat lands" .)