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Tuff Ring, Oregon

Gallery of Volcano Types

By Andrew Alden, About.com Guide

Fort Rock is really the eroded insides of a tuff ring. These form when magma rises into a lake, as was the case during Ice Age times in Oregon. (more below)
A National Natural LandmarkPhoto (c) 2005 Andrew Alden, licensed to About.com
When a small volcano erupted in a lake in central Oregon, the reaction of magma and water resulted in a maar that built a ring-shaped body of cemented ash or tuff along the rim of the crater. The lake waters later eroded into the tuff ring, breaching one side, and later still the lake dried up. The result is Fort Rock, a National Natural Landmark.

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