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.

Lime Green Tourmaline

Lime Green Tourmaline

A bright, fresh lime to yellowish-green elbaite tourmaline (verdelite), colored by iron and trace manganese for a lively spring-green tone.

gemstone
Blue-Green Tourmaline

Blue-Green Tourmaline

Elbaite tourmaline spanning the blue-to-green range, from sea-green to deep peacock hues, popular for its versatile color.

gemstone
Emerald Green Obsidian

Emerald Green Obsidian

A bright emerald-green glass sold as obsidian; saturated transparent green is manufactured, while rare natural green obsidian is only faintly tinted.

igneous
Green Sheen Obsidian

Green Sheen Obsidian

Black volcanic glass that flashes a green sheen at certain angles due to light interference off aligned microscopic inclusions.

igneous
Emerald Green Tourmaline

Emerald Green Tourmaline

A richly saturated green variety of elbaite tourmaline whose color rivals emerald, colored by trace iron, chromium, or vanadium.

gemstone
Yellow-Green Obsidian

Yellow-Green Obsidian

A chartreuse yellow-green glass sold as obsidian; the bright color is manufactured and does not occur in natural volcanic glass.

igneous
Neon Green Tourmaline

Neon Green Tourmaline

An intensely glowing green tourmaline, often copper-bearing, whose electric, almost luminous color recalls paraiba tourmaline.

gemstone
Dark Green Tourmaline

Dark Green Tourmaline

Deeply saturated green tourmaline colored by iron, often so dark it appears nearly black until viewed in bright light.

gemstone
Cat's Eye Green Tourmaline

Cat's Eye Green Tourmaline

Green tourmaline cut as a cabochon to show a sharp moving band of light (chatoyancy) caused by fine parallel inclusions.

gemstone
Forest Green Tourmaline

Forest Green Tourmaline

A deep, rich forest-green elbaite tourmaline (verdelite) colored mainly by iron, with strong pleochroism and excellent durability.

gemstone
Snow Quartz

Snow Quartz

An opaque, snow-white variety of quartz whose milky color comes from countless tiny gas and fluid inclusions.

crystal
Gondite

Gondite

A metamorphic rock made chiefly of manganese-rich spessartine garnet and quartz, formed from ancient manganese-bearing sediments.

metamorphic
Jaspillite

Jaspillite

A banded, metamorphosed iron formation in which bright red jasper alternates with silvery hematite or magnetite layers.

metamorphic
Metasandstone

Metasandstone

Sandstone altered by metamorphism, with partly recrystallized quartz grains, transitional between true sandstone and quartzite.

metamorphic
Metaquartzite

Metaquartzite

A hard, tough metamorphic rock of fused quartz grains, formed by recrystallizing quartz sandstone under heat and pressure.

metamorphic
Itabirite

Itabirite

A metamorphosed banded iron formation of alternating quartz and iron-oxide layers, mined as a major iron ore.

metamorphic
Mica

Mica

A family of sheet silicate minerals that split into thin, flexible, shiny sheets, giving rocks a sparkling, layered appearance.

mineral
Banded Iron Formation

Banded Iron Formation

Ancient chemically deposited rock of alternating iron-oxide and silica bands recording Earth's early oxygenation and a major iron ore source.

sedimentary
Bloodstone Jasper

Bloodstone Jasper

A dark green jasper-chalcedony speckled with red iron-oxide spots, classically known as bloodstone or heliotrope.

mineral
Tree Agate

Tree Agate

A white chalcedony filled with green or black dendritic, tree-like mineral inclusions that resemble ferns or moss frozen in stone.

gemstone
Prehnite

Prehnite

A translucent yellow-green silicate famous for its botryoidal 'grape' clusters, often hosting needle-like sprays of black epidote.

mineral
Fancy Jasper

Fancy Jasper

A soft-toned, multicolored jasper with swirling green, mauve, and cream patterns, popular and affordable in the bead trade.

sedimentary
Moldavite

Moldavite

A rare forest-green natural glass formed by a meteorite impact about 15 million years ago, found mainly in the Czech Republic.

gemstone
Rainforest Jasper

Rainforest Jasper

An Australian green rhyolite with eye-like orbs and earthy patterns marketed as jasper, evoking dense rainforest foliage.

igneous