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.

Blue Goldstone

Blue Goldstone

A man-made glittering glass colored deep blue with cobalt and studded with tiny copper crystals that mimic a starry night sky.

gemstone
Pumpkin Obsidian

Pumpkin Obsidian

An orange-to-rust colored variety of natural volcanic glass whose warm tone comes from iron oxide staining within the obsidian.

igneous
Metabasalt

Metabasalt

Basalt that has been metamorphosed, developing new minerals like chlorite, actinolite, and epidote that give it a greenish color.

metamorphic
Pezzottaite

Pezzottaite

A rare cesium-rich, beryl-related gem mineral with a raspberry-pink color, first found in Madagascar in 2002.

gemstone

Ribbon Jasper

A banded jasper showing parallel ribbon-like stripes of contrasting color formed by layered silica and mineral deposition.

mineral
Rainbow Obsidian

Rainbow Obsidian

A black volcanic glass that reveals concentric rainbow bands of color when cut and polished against the light.

igneous
Jadeite

Jadeite

The rarer and more valuable of the two jade minerals, prized for its translucent emerald-green 'imperial' color and extreme toughness.

gemstone
Calcite

Calcite

An extremely common calcium carbonate mineral that comes in nearly every color and shows strong double refraction in clear crystals.

mineral
Banded Obsidian

Banded Obsidian

Volcanic glass marked by parallel or swirling bands of differing color that record the flow layering of cooling lava.

igneous
Potassium Feldspar

Potassium Feldspar

The potassium-rich feldspar group - orthoclase, microcline, and sanidine - a major rock-forming mineral often recognized by its salmon-pink color.

mineral

Silver Peacock Obsidian

A natural sheen obsidian combining a bright silver shimmer with iridescent peacock colors, all produced by nanoparticle layers in black glass.

igneous

Flame Obsidian

Black volcanic glass that flashes flame-like bands of iridescent color when light strikes aligned nanoscale inclusions.

igneous

Stripe Obsidian

Obsidian crossed by parallel flow bands of differing color, formed as layers of lava with slightly different compositions froze into glass.

igneous

Lace Obsidian

Black volcanic glass laced with delicate web-like veins of contrasting color, formed by flow banding and fine crystallization.

igneous

Pink Lady Obsidian

Obsidian showing a pink-to-rose sheen or hue; natural examples get color from interference effects, while uniform pink material is often manufactured glass.

igneous