Waitangi is surrounded by rock known as Red Bluff Tuff. Red Bluff Tuff formed during a period of undersea volcanic eruptions. The ash which erupted then hardened to rock called tuff.
Tuff is a type of pyroclastic rock or pyroclastics. the word is derived from the Greek words for fire and broken. Pyroclastics are clastic rocks composed solely or primarily of volcanic materials. Clastic rocks are composed of fragments, or clasts, of pre-existing minerals and rock. The clasts can range from quite large resulting in agglomerates to very fine.
The source material of the ash is basalt. Basalt is a common volcanic rock with less than 20% quartz and less than 10% feldspathoid by volume, and where at least 65% of the feldspar is in the form of a solid solution. Basalt is usually grey to black in colour. It almost always has a fine grained mineral texture.
To log this Earthcache please e-mail me the answers to these questions. There is no need to wait for permission.
1. On the notice board nearby is the explanation for the red colour. What is it?
2. The distinctive layers on this cliff are not horizontal. What is the probable explanation for this?
3. Based on the appearance of the cliff how fine were the particles that created it? Describe its appearance.