Tuff and Wehrlite

Tuff

Wehrlite

Definition

Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption

Wehrlite is an ultramafic and ultrabasic rock that is a mixture of olivine and clinopyroxene. It is a subdivision of the peridotites

History

Origin

Italy

Egypt

Discoverer

Unknown

Alois Wehrle

Etymology

From a Latin word tophous then in Italian tufo and finally tuff

From the name of a professor, Alois Wehrle

Class

Igneous Rocks

Sub-Class

Durable Rock, Medium Hardness Rock

Family

Group

Volcanic

Plutonic

Other Categories

Fine Grained Rock, Opaque Rock

Coarse Grained Rock, Opaque Rock

Texture

Clastic, Pyroclastic

Banded

Color

Brown, Grey, Yellow

Dark Greenish - Grey, Green

Maintenance

Less

Durability

Durable

Water Resistant

Yes

Scratch Resistant

Yes

Stain Resistant

Yes

Wind Resistant

Acid Resistant

Appearance

Dull, Vesicular and Foilated

Rough and Banded

Uses

Architecture

Interior Uses

Decorative Aggregates, Entryways, Flooring, Homes, Interior Decoration

Decorative Aggregates, Interior Decoration

Exterior Uses

As Building Stone, As Facing Stone, Garden Decoration, Office Buildings, Paving Stone

As Building Stone, As Facing Stone, Garden Decoration, Paving Stone

Other Architectural Uses

Curbing

Industry

Construction Industry

Building houses or walls, Construction Aggregate

As Dimension Stone, Cobblestones

Medical Industry

Not Yet Used

Antiquity Uses

Artifacts, Monuments, Sculpture, Small Figurines

Other Uses

Commercial Uses

Creating Artwork

Cemetery Markers, Creating Artwork, Gemstone, Jewelry

Types

Welded tuff, Rhyolitic tuff, Basaltic tuff, Trachyte tuff, Andesitic tuff and Ignimbrite.

Not Available

Features

Always found as volcanic pipes over deep continental crust

Constitutes upper part of the Earth's mantle, Generally rough to touch, Is one of the oldest rock

Archaeological Significance

Monuments

Used

Famous Monuments

Easter Island in the Polynesian Triangle, Pacific Ocean

Data Not Available

Sculpture

Used

Famous Sculptures

Data Not Available

Pictographs

Used

Petroglyphs

Used

Figurines

Used

Fossils

Absent

Formation

Tuff is formed when large masses of ash and sand which are mixed with hot gases are ejected by a volcano and avalanche rapidly down its slopes.

Wehrlite is a fine-grained, hard rock which is a type of metasomatite, essentially altered basalt. It forms with or without crystallization, either below the surface as intrusive rocks or on the surface as extrusive rocks.

Composition

Mineral Content

Calcite, Chlorite

Pyroxene

Compound Content

Hydrogen Sulfide, Sulfur Dioxide

Aluminium Oxide, CaO, Carbon Dioxide, Iron(III) Oxide, FeO, Potassium Oxide, MgO, Sodium Oxide, Phosphorus Pentoxide, Silicon Dioxide, Titanium Dioxide

Transformation

Metamorphism

Yes

Types of Metamorphism

Burial Metamorphism, Cataclastic Metamorphism, Contact Metamorphism, Hydrothermal Metamorphism, Impact Metamorphism, Regional Metamorphism

Burial Metamorphism, Cataclastic Metamorphism, Contact Metamorphism, Impact Metamorphism, Regional Metamorphism

Weathering

Yes

Types of Weathering

Biological Weathering, Chemical Weathering, Mechanical Weathering

Erosion

Yes

Types of Erosion

Chemical Erosion, Coastal Erosion, Glacier Erosion, Sea Erosion, Water Erosion, Wind Erosion

Chemical Erosion, Coastal Erosion, Water Erosion

Properties

Physical Properties

Hardness

4-6

5.5-6

Grain Size

Fine Grained

Coarse Grained

Fracture

Uneven

Irregular

Streak

White

Porosity

Highly Porous

Less Porous

Luster

Vitreous to Dull

Metallic

Compressive Strength

243.80 N/mm²

Not Available

Cleavage

Not Available

Perfect

Toughness

Not Available

2.1

Specific Gravity

2.73

8.4

Transparency

Opaque

Density

1-1.8 g/cm³

2.6-3.7 g/cm³

Thermal Properties

Specific Heat Capacity

0.20 kJ/Kg K

0.63 kJ/Kg K

Resistance

Heat Resistant, Impact Resistant, Pressure Resistant, Wear Resistant

Heat Resistant, Impact Resistant, Pressure Resistant

Reserves

Deposits in Eastern Continents

Asia

Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Burma, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, North Korea, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Vietnam, Yemen

China, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Russia, South Korea, Thailand, Turkey

Africa

Cameroon, Cape Verde, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Libya, Madagascar, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Sudan, Uganda

Morocco, South Africa

Europe

France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, United Kingdom

Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Kazakhstan, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Switzerland, Venezuela

Others

Antarctica, Hawaii Islands

Not Yet Found

Deposits in Western Continents

North America

Canada, Costa Rica, Panama, USA

Canada, USA

South America

Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Paraguay

Brazil

Deposits in Oceania Continent

Australia

Central Australia, Western Australia

New Zealand, Western Australia

Summary >>

<< Reserves

All about Tuff and Wehrlite Properties

Know all about Tuff and Wehrlite properties here. All properties of rocks are important as they define the type of rock and its application. Tuff and Wehrlite belong to Igneous Rocks.Texture of Tuff is Clastic, Pyroclastic whereas that of Wehrlite is Banded. Tuff appears Dull, Vesicular and Foilated and Wehrlite appears Rough and Banded. The luster of Tuff is vitreous to dull while that of Wehrlite is metallic. Tuff is available in brown, grey, yellow colors whereas Wehrlite is available in dark greenish - grey, green colors. The commercial uses of Tuff are creating artwork and that of Wehrlite are cemetery markers, creating artwork, gemstone, jewelry.