August 26, 2022 — Base of a tuff cone on Ta‘ū Island, American Samoa

The base of a tuff cone near the coast of Ta‘ū Island in American Samoa. Tuff cones are created from phreatomagmatic processes through the interaction of lava with shallow seawater. This part of the tuff cone contains mostly sand size material that hosts larger blocks and bombs that are up to several feet (one meter) in diameter. There are several tuff cones that are present near the coastline of the island of Ta‘ū. USGS photo by D. Downs.