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.

Sonoran Sunset Jasper

Sonoran Sunset Jasper

A vivid copper-bearing Mexican stone of red cuprite and green chrysocolla that evokes a desert sunset.

mineral
Hells Canyon Jasper

Hells Canyon Jasper

A warm earth-toned jasper from the Hells Canyon region of the Oregon-Idaho border, prized for brecciated browns, reds, and creams.

gemstone
Red Beryl

Red Beryl

An exceptionally rare red variety of beryl colored by manganese, found chiefly in Utah and prized as one of the rarest gems.

gemstone
Red Emerald

Red Emerald

A marketing name for red beryl, the rare manganese-colored beryl from Utah, evoking emerald to convey its prestige and rarity.

gemstone
Red Opal

Red Opal

An opal with a deep red body color, often a variety of Mexican fire opal, prized for its warm, glowing intensity.

gemstone
Red Garnet

Red Garnet

The classic deep-red garnet — usually almandine or pyrope — long worn as the fiery 'carbuncle' gem and January's birthstone.

gemstone
Red Agate

Red Agate

A red-toned banded chalcedony colored by iron oxides, ranging from natural carnelian-like reds to heat-treated stones.

gemstone
Red Sandstone

Red Sandstone

Iron-stained sandstone whose red color comes from hematite coatings, formed in oxidizing desert, river, and coastal environments.

sedimentary
Red Tourmaline

Red Tourmaline

Vivid red to raspberry tourmaline, the most intense colors are marketed as rubellite, colored by manganese in the elbaite structure.

gemstone
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
Mookaite

Mookaite

A vivid Australian jasper-like silica stone in earthy reds, yellows, and purples, formed from silicified radiolarian sediment.

mineral
Pigeon Blood Agate

Pigeon Blood Agate

A richly colored red banded agate prized by lapidaries for its deep crimson-to-brown tones reminiscent of pigeon's blood.

gemstone
Bloodstone

Bloodstone

A dark green chalcedony speckled with blood-red spots of iron oxide, traditionally known as heliotrope.

gemstone
Gondite

Gondite

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

metamorphic
Cranberry Tourmaline

Cranberry Tourmaline

A deep cranberry-red to purplish-pink variety of lithium-rich elbaite tourmaline, prized as a rich, saturated rubellite gemstone.

gemstone
Dragon Garnet

Dragon Garnet

A trade name for deep wine-red garnet, typically a rich pyrope-almandine stone marketed for its dramatic, fiery color.

gemstone
Burgundy Tourmaline

Burgundy Tourmaline

A deep wine-red to maroon tourmaline colored by manganese, a rich darker-toned member of the red-pink rubellite family.

gemstone
Tiger Iron

Tiger Iron

A banded combination rock of golden tiger's eye, red jasper, and metallic hematite, formed in ancient iron deposits.

metamorphic
Rhyolite

Rhyolite

A fine-grained, silica-rich volcanic rock that is the extrusive equivalent of granite, often pale, banded, or flow-textured.

igneous
Mahogany Obsidian

Mahogany Obsidian

A natural volcanic glass with rich brown and black mahogany-like swirls created by iron oxide inclusions.

igneous
Metaquartzite

Metaquartzite

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

metamorphic
Raspberry Beryl

Raspberry Beryl

A trade name for raspberry-pink beryl-family gems, most often the cesium-rich mineral pezzottaite from Madagascar.

gemstone
Itabirite

Itabirite

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

metamorphic