How to Use tephra in a Sentence

tephra

noun
  • Volcanic ash, a finer form of tephra, consists of tiny, sharp pieces of rock and glass.
    — Zoe Sottile, CNN, 29 Nov. 2022
  • That enough to cover 10-20 football fields in one foot deep of tephra.
    — Erik Klemetti, Discover Magazine, 16 Dec. 2020
  • This material is referred to as tephra.
    — The Editors, JSTOR Daily, 25 Sep. 2025
  • This material is referred to as tephra.
    — Jayde N. Hirniak, The Conversation, 11 Sep. 2025
  • People hid their faces inside their hoods to avoid the hail of tephra—small, lightweight rocks ejected by each volcanic spasm.
    — Heidi Julavit, The New Yorker, 16 Aug. 2021
  • For instance, tephra from one eruption might have more iron in it compared to tephra from another eruption.
    — The Editors, JSTOR Daily, 25 Sep. 2025
  • For instance, tephra from one eruption might have more iron in it compared to tephra from another eruption.
    — Jayde N. Hirniak, The Conversation, 11 Sep. 2025
  • However, the tephra used in the tomb's mortar contained much more potassium-rich leucite.
    — Jennifer Ouellette, ArsTechnica, 30 July 2025
  • However, the tephra used in the tomb's mortar contained much more potassium-rich leucite.
    — Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 19 Apr. 2023
  • However, the tephra used in the tomb's mortar contained much more potassium-rich leucite.
    — Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 17 Feb. 2022
  • Volcanoes are vents where lava, tephra, and steam erupt onto the Earth's surface.
    — Lea Lane, Forbes, 29 Mar. 2024
  • That tephra eventually gets buried under new snow and forms a layer under the surface.
    — IEEE Spectrum, 5 Aug. 2023
  • The sulfur and tephra of a large eruption can also rain down on Earth's poles, where they are preserved in layers of ice.
    — David Bressan, Forbes, 3 May 2022
  • This tephra fell not just over the volcano’s slopes, but over a nearby highway and residential areas.
    — Owen Clarke, Outside, 11 Mar. 2026
  • First, explosive volcanic eruptions produce tephra, with is a bit of a catch-all for volcanic debris like ash, pumice, bombs, etc.
    — Erik Klemetti, Discover Magazine, 30 May 2023
  • The ice cores' tephra, which has a unique geochemical fingerprint, can be used to link the volcanic eruption to an exact volcanic source.
    — David Bressan, Forbes, 3 May 2022
  • That was a good spot, because from time to time, a nearby volcanic eruption spews volcanic material known as tephra over the surface of the ice cap.
    — IEEE Spectrum, 5 Aug. 2023
  • This is due to the nature of the material that constructs those early volcanic island, that being volcanic tephra.
    — Erik Klemetti, Discover Magazine, 21 Nov. 2013
  • As every layer of ice represents one year, layers showing traces of volcanic tephra can be precisely dated.
    — David Bressan, Forbes, 3 May 2022
  • Enlarge / Lava overlying volcanic tephra in the substructure of the tomb.
    — Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 1 Jan. 2022
  • Scientists can trace the layers of tephra across the landscape both visually and chemically.
    — The Editors, JSTOR Daily, 25 Sep. 2025
  • Scientists can trace the layers of tephra across the landscape both visually and chemically.
    — Jayde N. Hirniak, The Conversation, 11 Sep. 2025
  • That volcano last erupted in 1985 producing lava flows with minor tephra.
    — Erik Klemetti, WIRED, 31 Jan. 2011
  • The observatory warned that the plume may include hazards, including strands of volcanic glass known as Pele's hair and rock fragments called tephra.
    — Kerry Breen june 20, CBS News, 20 June 2025
  • The chemical composition of the tephra shards in the ice cores matched that of material from Okmok volcano in Alaska.
    — Kate Baggaley, Popular Science, 25 June 2020
  • Gas emissions and rock fragments ejected from the volcano into the air, known as tephra, were the primary hazards from the eruption, the observatory said.
    — Alex Sundby, CBS News, 4 June 2024
  • Roman concrete consisted of a mixture of a white powder known as slaked lime, small particles and rock fragments called tephra ejected by volcanic eruptions, and water.
    — Byjacklin Kwan, science.org, 6 Jan. 2023
  • The eruption spewed tons of tephra—rock fragments ejected from the volcano—into Yokohama and Tokyo, some 60 miles east of Fuji.
    — Eli Wizevich, Smithsonian Magazine, 16 Dec. 2024
  • But the lava fountains were creating trouble for neighboring communities and a highway where the volcanic fragments and ash, known as tephra, was falling.
    — ABC News, 10 Mar. 2026
  • But the lava fountains were creating trouble for neighboring communities and a highway where the volcanic fragments and ash, known as tephra, were falling.
    — Jessica Mekles, FOXNews.com, 13 Mar. 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'tephra.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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