Rock Identifier

Rock & Mineral Encyclopedia

Search and identify 1,000+ rocks, minerals, crystals, and gemstones — with properties, formation, colors, hardness, and how to tell them apart.

Yellow Garnet

Yellow Garnet

A trade term for yellow garnets, including golden grossular, yellow andradite (topazolite), and yellow-green Mali garnet.

gemstone
Cherry Creek Jasper

Cherry Creek Jasper

A landscape-patterned Chinese jasper prized for warm cherry-red, cream, and green bands resembling painted scenery.

mineral
Gahnite

Gahnite

A hard zinc-rich member of the spinel group, usually dark blue-green to black, forming octahedral crystals in metamorphic and pegmatitic rocks.

mineral

Grandite Garnet

Grandite is an intermediate garnet between grossular and andradite, common in skarns and prized for vivid green to golden crystals.

mineral

Imperial Jasper

A prized Mexican jasper known for pastel green, lavender, and cream orbicular patterns that take an exceptional polish.

mineral

Wehrite

An ultramafic rock of olivine and clinopyroxene, a peridotite variety common as cumulate layers in mafic intrusions.

igneous

Kiwi Jasper

A speckled green-and-black stone resembling kiwi fruit, technically a quartz-amazonite aggregate rather than true jasper.

mineral
Topazolite Garnet

Topazolite Garnet

A rare yellow to golden variety of andradite garnet, the topaz-colored cousin of green demantoid, prized for high dispersion and brilliance.

gemstone
Andesine-Labradorite

Andesine-Labradorite

An intermediate plagioclase feldspar spanning andesine and labradorite, marketed as a red-to-green gem, much of which is copper-diffusion treated.

gemstone
Paraiba Tourmaline

Paraiba Tourmaline

An intensely glowing copper-bearing tourmaline famed for its electric neon blue-green color and extreme rarity and value.

gemstone
Talc Schist

Talc Schist

An extremely soft, soapy-feeling foliated rock made largely of talc, formed by metamorphism of magnesium-rich rocks.

metamorphic

Diatomaceous Earth

Soft, lightweight siliceous rock made of fossilized diatom shells, valued as a filter, abrasive, and absorbent.

sedimentary

Multicolor Tourmaline

Tourmaline crystals displaying two or more distinct colors at once, including the famous pink-and-green watermelon variety.

gemstone
Serpentine

Serpentine

A group of green magnesium silicate minerals with a smooth, waxy feel, often carved and sometimes sold as imitation jade.

mineral
Labradorite

Labradorite

A plagioclase feldspar famous for labradorescence, a dramatic flash of iridescent blue, green, and gold across a dark gray stone.

mineral
Blue Jasper

Blue Jasper

An opaque blue variety of chalcedony jasper, less common than red or green forms, colored by mineral inclusions.

mineral
Graphic Feldspar

Graphic Feldspar

A pegmatite rock of feldspar intergrown with wedge-shaped quartz that resembles ancient runic or Hebrew writing.

igneous

Exotica Jasper

Also called Sci-Fi Jasper, a Mexican jasper-rhyolite with swirling abstract patterns in cream, tan, gray, pink, and green.

gemstone
Chrysocolla

Chrysocolla

A vivid blue-green hydrated copper silicate, soft on its own but prized as a gem when hardened by intergrown quartz or chalcedony.

mineral

Peruvian Blue Opal

A translucent common opal from the Andes prized for its serene blue to blue-green color, usually cut into cabochons and beads.

gemstone
Turquoise

Turquoise

A prized blue to blue-green copper-aluminium phosphate, often veined with dark matrix, treasured for jewelry across many cultures.

mineral
Nephrite

Nephrite

One of the two jade minerals, an amphibole prized for its extreme toughness and soft, waxy green hues used in carving for millennia.

gemstone
Vogesite

Vogesite

A dark hornblende-rich lamprophyre dike rock with amphibole and augite phenocrysts in an alkali-feldspar-dominated groundmass.

igneous

Morrisonite Jasper

A rare, prized Oregon picture jasper known for blue-green orbs and scenic patterns, often called the king of jaspers.

mineral