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Metro 2039Tufa Zone
The Tufa Zone, which guides call Tufa Towers, is the biome of tall rock towers about 400 m south of Subnautica 2's Lifepod, home of the Great Jaw clam and its Lithium; it and the Thermal Area got their own music in update 1.2 (Aug 19, 2026).
The Tufa Zone is Subnautica 2's area of tufa towers south of the Lifepod, where the Great Jaw, a giant clam that snaps shut on careless divers, sits on the seafloor; All Things How calls it Tufa Towers and puts it about 400 m south, near the Cicada Wreck (Main), on the launch build (May 20, 2026). "Tufa Zone" is Unknown Worlds' name: 1.2 Buddy System (Aug 19, 2026) added "Music added to Tufa Zone, Thermal Area, and North Coral Gardens" (Unknown Worlds). The Thermal Area, named in the same line, is covered at the end of this page. Neither guide that maps the biomes lists its depth or resources in a table.
Quick facts
| Name | Tufa Zone (Unknown Worlds); Tufa Towers (guides) |
| Where | About 400 m south of the Lifepod (All Things How, May 20, 2026) |
| Depth | Not published; the Great Jaw lies above 100 m in Jade's May 16, 2026 guide |
| Landmarks | The Great Jaw; Cicada Wreck (Main) nearby |
| Resources | Lithium from the Great Jaw |
| Music | Since 1.2 (Aug 19, 2026) |
| Bases | Not inside the Great Jaw since 1.2 |
The Great Jaw
PCGamesN finds the Great Jaw about 350 m from the Lifepod at heading 195, south-southwest (May 21, 2026). It opens as you approach and closes on anyone who touches the red fibers at its core, damaging you or your Tadpole; All Things How adds that it reopens after a short delay. PCGamesN counts it among the four Leviathans of Early Access and calls it a Lithium farm: its databank entry says it bioaccumulates lithium and expels lithium nodules (Dexerto). Collect the nodules around it, and keep clear of the core. Since 1.2 its shell is off limits for building: "Bases can no longer be built inside of Great Jaw" (Unknown Worlds). Its full page is Great Jaw.
Jade's May 16, 2026 guide, on the launch build, puts the Great Jaw at the foot of a big drop-off with cliffs and wrecks, about 241 m from the Lifepod on a bearing of about 180, and "You don't need to go below 100 m". Inside it she scans two Oxygenator fragments and a piece of wreckage, a Tadpole fragment lies underneath, and past it the seafloor is barren, with only large Silver, Quartz and Titanium deposits on the cliff faces before it falls into the void.
Places nearby
- Unauthorized NOA Modification: a bunker with an Upgrade Biobed near the Great Jaw, 265 m southwest at 85 m (Game Rant, May 23, 2026); another Game Rant guide finds a Tadpole fragment in it, 280 m southwest.
- Cicada Wreck (Main): a large part of the colony ship near the towers (All Things How).
- A Tadpole fragment: Destructoid's first one lies 145 m out at 195 degrees, about 90 m deep, on the same heading as the Great Jaw (May 16, 2026).
Jade also follows a path past the Great Jaw to a second wreck, where a structure holds the one small piece of Lithium she found early in the game, enough to build the Tadpole: 287 m from the Lifepod on a bearing of about 160.
See Tadpole and Blueprints and Scanning.
The Thermal Area
The Thermal Area is an official name, but Unknown Worlds' notes say nothing about where it is beyond its new music in 1.2 (Unknown Worlds); the notes also name Heat Zones in the Overgrown Ruins. The guides' hot places are the Graveyard, its Hot Cave and the Thermal Vent Clusters, a micro-biome All Things How lists 0 to 450 m deep with Gold, Sulfur and Titanium as an alternative to the Hot Cave (May 20, 2026). Which of them Unknown Worlds means by "Thermal Area" is not stated; whichever it is, Heat Tolerance is needed there. Beebom adds that a basic Tadpole needs upgrades to survive the vent clusters (May 19, 2026).
Frequently asked questions
Where is the Tufa Zone in Subnautica 2? About 400 m south of the Lifepod, by All Things How's launch-build reference, which calls it Tufa Towers; the Great Jaw clam sits there.
Where is the Great Jaw in Subnautica 2? PCGamesN puts it about 350 m from the Lifepod at heading 195, in the Tufa Zone south of the start. It closes on you if you touch the red fibers in its core.
What is the Thermal Area in Subnautica 2? An area Unknown Worlds names in its 1.2 notes, which gave it music on Aug 19, 2026; the notes do not say where it is. Guides' heat areas are the Graveyard, its Hot Cave and the Thermal Vent Clusters.
Can you build a base in the Great Jaw in Subnautica 2? No longer. Update 1.2 Buddy System (Aug 19, 2026) stopped bases being built inside the Great Jaw.
Sources
- Subnautica 2 Regions and Biomes Reference (Early Access), All Things How (Pallav Pathak), May 20, 2026
- All Subnautica 2 Biomes and Regions, Beebom (Bipradeep Biswas), May 19, 2026
- All Subnautica 2 Leviathans and where to find them, PCGamesN (Paul Kelly), May 21, 2026
- Great Jaw, Dexerto, May 14, 2026
- Subnautica 2: All 7 Biobed Inventory Expansion Locations, Game Rant (Christopher Norman Worcester), May 23, 2026
- All Subnautica 2 blueprint locations, Destructoid (Arka Sarkar), May 16, 2026
- How to Build a Tadpole, Game Rant, May 2026
- Subnautica 2 Early Access 1.2 - Buddy System Update, Unknown Worlds, Aug 19, 2026
- How To Get Every Resource In Subnautica 2, Breathtaker, May 18, 2026 (video)
- SUBNAUTICA 2 How To get Every Resource! Deepwing Eggs! Silver! Metal Farms And More Full Guide, Jade PG CRAFTED, May 16, 2026 (video)
Moments
How To Get Every Resource In Subnautica 2
Breathtaker
SUBNAUTICA 2 How To get Every Resource! Deepwing Eggs! Silver! Metal Farms And More Full Guide
Jade PG CRAFTED
Related
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Dolerite SpiresThe Dolerite Spires are a maze of jagged volcanic pillars in Subnautica 2's starting region, shallow to mid depth, with Lithium and Titanium, Quaker's Meetinghouse and two Spires wrecks that All Things How lists for the High Capacity Air Tank and the Rebreather on the launch build.
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Metal FarmsThe Axum Metal Farms are the far eastern edge of Subnautica 2's Early Access map, about 2,000 to 2,200 m east-northeast of the Lifepod beside the Karakorum Power Plant, the only source of Troilite and Atacamite and where you find the Axum Bacterial Culture to build a Metal Farm of your own.
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Necrolei HillsThe Necrolei Hills are Subnautica 2's infected hills about 300 m northwest of the Lifepod, the main source of Necrolei Cysts for Strong Acid, with Copper, Titanium, Deepwing Egg Clumps and fauna mutated by the Bloom.
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Observatory IslandObservatory Island is Subnautica 2's Axum tower rising out of the sea about 1,000 to 1,200 m east of the Lifepod, with the Alien Ruins (Unknown Worlds' Axum Ruins), the Rosetta Stone, a Biolab since 1.1 and the Axum Observatory, where the Early Access story stops.
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PlateausThe Plateaus are Subnautica 2's rocky biome about 300 m northeast of the Lifepod, 23 to 119 m deep by All Things How's count, with Camp One, the Old Habitat and the caves that hold the early Silver; the sandy Lead Zone lies nearby.
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Root CanyonRoot Canyon is Subnautica 2's deepest explorable biome, a pitch-black canyon 365 to 750 m deep in the far east, with root-like walls, the Control Room, Tech Sites, Blight Nodes, a Cold Zone, colonist Dive Elevators and the Axum Metal Farms; the Collector Leviathan patrols its lower reaches.
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ShallowsThe Shallows are Subnautica 2's starting biome, the bright coral reefs around the Lifepod, 3 to 224 m deep by All Things How's count, with the Welcome Center about 85 m southeast, the first Angel Comb, Quartz-filled Coral Domes and caves of Copper and Titanium below.
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Tar CascadesThe Tar Cascades, in the area Unknown Worlds calls the Sparse Plains, are Subnautica 2's dark, tar-coated crossing about 700 m east of the Lifepod, 0 to 250 m deep, where the Collector Leviathan guards the way to the Axum ruins; cross low along the bottom in a Tadpole.
See also
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Great JawThe Great Jaw is Subnautica 2's giant clam Leviathan, about 350 m from the Lifepod at heading 195; it opens as you approach and snaps shut if you touch the red fibers in its core, and the lithium nodules it expels make it a lithium farm. Since update 1.2 you cannot build a base inside it.
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GraveyardThe Graveyard is Subnautica 2's hot, orange-watered biome, 0 to 266 m deep, that needs the Heat Tolerance Adaptation; it holds Gold, Salt, Sulfur and Lithium, the Tadpole Pens, Tailings Village, a Cicada Wreck, Nahema's Lab and hundreds of Water Slugs.
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Anemone HillsThe Anemone Hills are Subnautica 2's biome of towering pink-and-green anemones about 300 m northwest of the Lifepod, 0 to 151 m deep, where the infected Heat Tolerance Angel Comb waits behind Bloom you clear with the Sonic Resonator.
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Coral GardensCoral Gardens and North Coral Gardens are Unknown Worlds' names for Subnautica 2's early coral areas around the Lifepod; update 1.1 (Jul 8, 2026) put a second Biolab and more Silver there, and 1.2 gave North Coral Gardens its own music.