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Tuff
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{{short description|Rock consolidated from volcanic ash}} {{Other uses}} {{distinguish|Tufa}} [[File:Bandelier-Pockmarked Cliff.jpg|thumb|Cliff face of welded tuff pockmarked with holes β some natural, some man-made from [[Bandelier National Monument]], [[New Mexico]]]] [[File:Tufo Necropoli della Banditaccia.JPG|thumb|[[Etruscan architecture|Etruscan]] tuff blocks from a tomb at [[Banditaccia]], [[Lazio]], Italy]] [[File:Tuffstein Haus.jpg|thumb|upright|A house constructed of tuff blocks in [[Rieden, Rhineland-Palatinate]], in the [[Volcanic Eifel]] region, Germany]] '''Tuff''' is a type of [[Rock (geology)|rock]] made of [[volcanic ash]] ejected from a [[Volcano|vent]] during a [[volcanic eruption]]. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is [[lithified]] into a solid rock.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Fisher |first1=Richard V. |last2=Schmincke |first2=H.-U. |title=Pyroclastic rocks |date=1984 |publisher=Springer-Verlag |location=Berlin |isbn=3-540-12756-9 |pages=89β90}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Schmincke |first1=Hans-Ulrich |title=Volcanism |date=2003 |publisher=Springer |location=Berlin |isbn=978-3-540-43650-8 |page=138}}</ref> Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock containing 25% to 75% ash is described as '''''tuffaceous''''' (for example, ''tuffaceous sandstone'').<ref name="schmidt-1981">{{cite journal |last1=Schmidt |first1=R. |title=Descriptive nomenclature and classification of pyroclastic deposits and fragments: recommendations of the IUGS Subcommission on the Systematics of Igneous Rocks |journal=Geology |volume=9 |year=1981 |pages=41β43 |doi=10.1007/BF01822152 |s2cid=128375559 |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF01822152 |access-date=27 September 2020|url-access=subscription }}</ref> A [[pyroclastic rock]] containing 25β75% [[volcanic bomb]]s or [[volcanic block]]s is called '''tuff breccia'''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.alexstrekeisen.it/english/vulc/pisolitictuff.php|title=Lapillistone|website=Alex Strekeisen|access-date=3 January 2025}}</ref> Tuff composed of sandy volcanic material can be referred to as '''volcanic sandstone'''.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/ag/article/view/1257/1648|title=Arenig volcanic and sedimentary strata, central New Brunswick and eastern Maine|year=2003 |doi=10.4138/1257 |access-date=2022-09-24|last1=Poole |first1=W. H. |last2=Neuman |first2=Robert B. |journal=Atlantic Geology |volume=38 |issue=2/3 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Tuff is a relatively soft rock, so it has been used for construction since ancient times.<ref name="dolan-etal-2019">{{cite journal |last1=Dolan |first1=S.G. |last2=Cates |first2=K.M. |last3=Conrad |first3=C.N. |last4=Copeland |first4=S.R. |title=Home Away from Home: Ancestral Pueblo Fieldhouses in the Northern Rio Grande |journal=Lanl-Ur |date=14 March 2019 |volume=19-21132 |page=96 |url=https://permalink.lanl.gov/object/tr?what=info:lanl-repo/lareport/LA-UR-19-21132 |access-date=29 September 2020}}</ref> Because it is common in Italy, the Romans used it often for construction.<ref name="jackson-etal-2005">{{cite journal |last1=Jackson |first1=M. D. |last2=Marra |first2=F. |last3=Hay |first3=R. L. |last4=Cawood |first4=C. |last5=Winkler |first5=E. M. |display-authors=3|title=The Judicious Selection and Preservation of Tuff and Travertine Building Stone in Ancient Rome* |journal=Archaeometry |date=2005 |volume=47 |issue=3 |pages=485β510 |doi=10.1111/j.1475-4754.2005.00215.x|doi-access=free }}</ref> The [[Rapa Nui people]] used it to make most of the ''[[moai]]'' statues on [[Easter Island]].<ref name="collins-2016-150-151">{{cite book |last1=Richards |first1=Colin |title=Rapa Nui: Easter Island Cultural and Historical Perspectives |date=2016 |location=Berlin [Germany] |isbn=978-3-7329-0265-1 |pages=160β161 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FPQhDAAAQBAJ&dq=Richards,+Colin.+2016.+%22Making+Moai:+Reconsidering+Concepts+of+Risk+in+the+Construction+of+Megalithic+Architecture+in+Rapa+Nui+(Easter+Island)%22.+Rapa+Nui%E2%80%93Easter+Island:+Cultural+and+Historical+Perspectives,+pp.+150-151&pg=PA149 |access-date=29 July 2021 |chapter=Making Moai: Reconsidering concepts of riskin the construction of megalithic architecture in Rapa Nui (Easter Island)}}</ref> Tuff can be classified as either [[Igneous rock|igneous]] or [[sedimentary rock]]. It is usually studied in the context of igneous [[petrology]], although it is sometimes described using [[Sedimentology|sedimentological]] terms. Tuff is often erroneously called tufa in guidebooks and in television programs, but [[tufa]] is a form of [[travertine]].
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