Ignimbrite has often been used as decorative facing stone because some varieties are soft enough to be sawn. The rock is a mixture of pumice fragments and fine-grained ash that was so hot at the time it was deposited that the grains have partly welded together. The shape of these fragments varies, depending on the temperature and the weight of overlying ignimbrite.
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Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand
Photograph by Alastair McLean
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