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.

Ruin Agate

Ruin Agate

A fractured and re-cemented agate whose angular broken bands resemble crumbling walls and ruined cityscapes when polished.

gemstone
Condor Agate

Condor Agate

A vividly banded fortification agate from Argentina prized for its bold red, gold and white concentric patterns.

gemstone
Blood Agate

Blood Agate

A deep red banded agate colored by iron oxides, valued as a vivid red lapidary and jewelry stone.

gemstone

Coldwater Agate

A glacially transported agate found in Midwestern gravels, named for the Coldwater area, showing banded chalcedony patterns.

gemstone
Cathedral Agate

Cathedral Agate

A banded agate whose internal structures resemble cathedral spires, arches, or a city skyline of towers and pinnacles.

gemstone
Dryhead Agate

Dryhead Agate

A banded fortification agate from the remote Dryhead area of south-central Montana, prized for warm concentric rings.

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
Shadow Agate

Shadow Agate

A banded agate that displays a moving shadow or flash across its surface when tilted under light, caused by closely spaced parallel bands.

gemstone
Fire Agate

Fire Agate

A rare brown chalcedony containing thin iron-oxide layers that produce flashing, fiery rainbow iridescence like trapped flames.

gemstone

Mocha Agate

A pale translucent chalcedony threaded with brown-black manganese and iron dendrites that mimic tiny ferns, mosses or landscapes.

gemstone
Turritella Agate

Turritella Agate

A brown fossiliferous chalcedony packed with spiral freshwater snail shells, technically agatized fossil rock from Wyoming.

sedimentary
Honey Agate

Honey Agate

A warm golden to amber translucent chalcedony agate whose color and glow resemble honey, sometimes with banding.

gemstone
Flame Agate

Flame Agate

A chalcedony agate with red, orange, and yellow plume or banding patterns that rise like dancing flames within the stone.

gemstone
Brecciated Agate

Brecciated Agate

Agate that was shattered and naturally re-cemented by silica, creating a mosaic of angular fragments in a quartz matrix.

gemstone

Starburst Agate

Agate containing radiating sprays of mineral needles that fan out like bursting stars within the chalcedony.

gemstone
Feather Agate

Feather Agate

A translucent chalcedony agate containing delicate, feather- or plume-shaped mineral inclusions that branch like soft feathers.

gemstone

Paintbrush Agate

A plume agate whose inclusions form upright, bristly clusters resembling the strokes of a paintbrush.

gemstone

Polyhedroid Agate

A rare agate that forms naturally with flat polygonal faces and angular geometric shapes rather than the usual rounded nodule.

gemstone
Eye Agate

Eye Agate

A chalcedony agate marked by round, concentric ring patterns that resemble eyes when cut and polished.

gemstone

Sunset Agate

A warmly colored chalcedony agate with reds, oranges, golds, and pinks that blend like the glowing bands of a sunset sky.

gemstone

Scenic Agate

A translucent agate whose mineral inclusions resemble miniature landscapes of trees, hills, and horizons within the stone.

gemstone
Dendritic Agate

Dendritic Agate

A translucent chalcedony decorated with branching, fern-like manganese or iron oxide inclusions resembling tiny plants.

mineral

Lake Huron Agate

Glacially transported banded agates found along Lake Huron's shores, typically small, frosted pebbles with red-orange iron banding.

gemstone
Lake Michigan Agate

Lake Michigan Agate

Glacially deposited banded agates found along Lake Michigan beaches, small waterworn pebbles with concentric red and grey banding.

gemstone