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.

Naujaite

A sodalite-rich agpaitic nepheline syenite with poikilitic texture from the Ilimaussaq complex, packed with blue sodalite, eudialyte and arfvedsonite.

igneous
Bruneau Jasper

Bruneau Jasper

A prized Idaho picture jasper from Bruneau Canyon known for brown and cream orbicular egg-rock patterns and scenic landscapes.

mineral
Essexite

Essexite

A dark, silica-undersaturated gabbroic rock containing nepheline along with plagioclase, alkali feldspar, and pyroxene, also known as nepheline monzogabbro.

igneous
Metaquartzite

Metaquartzite

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

metamorphic
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
Green Marble

Green Marble

A green ornamental stone, often serpentine-rich marble or verde antique, valued for its rich green color and white veining.

metamorphic

Appinite

A group of coarse, water-rich plutonic rocks dominated by large hornblende crystals set in feldspar, intermediate between lamprophyre and diorite.

igneous
Pelitic Schist

Pelitic Schist

A schist derived from clay-rich sediments, rich in mica and often bearing index minerals like garnet, staurolite, or kyanite.

metamorphic

Sonoran Sunset Jasper

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

mineral
Picture Jasper

Picture Jasper

An opaque brown chalcedony whose iron-stained banding mimics deserts, dunes, and distant mountain skylines.

mineral
Blue Quartz

Blue Quartz

A naturally blue quartz colored by tiny mineral inclusions such as dumortierite or scattered rutile and tourmaline fibers.

crystal
Copper-Bearing Tourmaline

Copper-Bearing Tourmaline

Tourmaline colored by copper, producing the famous vivid neon blues, greens and teals known commercially as Paraiba-type gems.

gemstone
Kersantite

Kersantite

A dark mica lamprophyre with biotite and augite phenocrysts in a plagioclase-dominated groundmass, the feldspar counterpart of minette.

igneous

Butterstone Jasper

A soft-toned cream-to-butterscotch jasper colored by iron oxides, prized by lapidaries for its smooth, even, opaque finish.

gemstone
Metaconglomerate

Metaconglomerate

A conglomerate altered by heat and pressure, often with its rounded pebbles stretched and flattened into elongated lenses.

metamorphic
Charnockite

Charnockite

A granite-like rock containing orthopyroxene, formed at high temperatures and pressures and often classed with the granulites.

igneous
Enhydro Quartz

Enhydro Quartz

Quartz containing a sealed pocket of ancient water, often with a mobile air bubble that moves when the crystal is tilted.

crystal
Mustard Jasper

Mustard Jasper

A warm mustard-to-ochre yellow jasper colored by iron, valued by lapidaries for its rich, earthy golden tone.

gemstone

Dragon Blood Jasper

A green-and-red ornamental stone of epidote and red piemontite or iron oxide, named for its dragon-skin coloring; not a true jasper.

metamorphic
Scepter Quartz

Scepter Quartz

Quartz with a wider crystal 'cap' that grew over a narrower stem, forming a natural scepter or mushroom shape.

crystal
Garden Quartz

Garden Quartz

Clear quartz filled with mineral inclusions that look like underwater gardens, mossy landscapes, or floating scenery.

crystal

Candle Quartz

A quartz with a main point surrounded by many smaller crystals along its sides, resembling melted candle wax, mainly from Madagascar.

crystal
Tangerine Quartz

Tangerine Quartz

Clear quartz coated with orange-red hematite, giving points a vivid tangerine color, mainly from Brazil.

crystal

Luxullianite

A distinctive tourmaline-rich granite from Cornwall, prized as an ornamental stone for its pink feldspar set with radiating black tourmaline.

igneous