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University of Missouri Department of Geological Sciences

Rock type:      Welded Tuff

Taum Sauk is the highest point in Missouri, at 1776 feet above sea level. Much of the mountain is

made up of Taum Sauk rhyolite, which has a characteristic maroon-purplish color. The pink crystals

are feldspars, and elongated white layers are squashed pumice fragments. Rhyolite is a silica-rich

volcanic rock, in this case deposited by a hot ash flow during an enormous explosive eruption,

about 1.47 billion years ago.

Photo by Alan Whittington, MU Geology

MU Geology Department
http://geology.missouri.edu/