Rocksday

Tuff

Rock made of compacted volcanic ash, often soft enough to carve.

Tuff specimen
Photo: Ivan Fernanadez 1011, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

How to identify tuff

  • Light, porous and often crumbly.
  • Gritty with fragments of pumice, crystals and rock.
  • Pale colors; may show layering.

Often confused with

Where it's found

  • Cappadocia, Turkey
  • Rapa Nui (Easter Island)
  • Bishop, California
  • Naples, Italy

Uses

Building and carving stone.

Rock tumbling

Not suitable for tumbling.

Did you know?

Most of Easter Island's moai statues were carved from tuff at the Rano Raraku crater.

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