noun

• 1A porous rock composed of calcium carbonate and formed by precipitation from water, e.g. around mineral springs.

  ‘Among the 30 different types of stone recognized are varieties of diorite, granite, bedded tuff, sandstones, limestones, and tufa.’

  More example sentences

  • ‘It's an otherworldly site, fringed with dunes and studded with bone-white calcium carbonate spires called tufa towers.’
  • ‘It is perched on a plateau of tufa rock, almost like it's been carved straight from its roots.’
  • ‘Along the shoreline, pinnacles of calcium carbonate deposits, called tufa, glare white in the sunlight.’
  • ‘All were so-called tufa towers, formations of calcium carbonate deposited by the mineral-rich lake water, which is two and a half times saltier than seawater and eighty times more alkaline.’

  1. 1.1
     another term for tuff
     ‘Contemporary Armenian architecture has followed the basic characteristics of its historical architectural tradition: simplicity, reliance on locally available geological material, and the use of volcanic tufa for facings.’
     More example sentences

     • ‘Local building materials, such as the volcanic tufa, did not lend themselves to the structural complexities of French gothic vaults, and, like most gothic churches in Italy, these were relatively simple.’
     • ‘The unmatching plates and bowls include some made of stone or tufa.’