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How were Ship Rock and Devil’s Tower exposed as volcanic necks?

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Ship Rock and Devil's Tower were exposed as volcanic necks through the process of erosion.

Ship Rock is a volcanic neck in New Mexico that solidified within the vent of an ancient volcano. The more resistant rock of the neck remained after the surrounding, less resistant rock eroded away.1

Devil's Tower in Wyoming is also believed to have formed through volcanic activity and erosion. One explanation suggests that magma pushed upward and cooled underground, forming an intrusive igneous rock. Over millions of years, the surrounding sedimentary rocks eroded, leaving the harder volcanic rock exposed as the present-day tower. Another theory posits that Devil's Tower is the remaining "throat" of a volcano, with evidence of the eruption having eroded away. A volcanic neck is defined as a column of igneous rock formed in a volcano's conduit that becomes exposed above the surrounding land due to erosion.23