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.

Tiger Iron

Tiger Iron

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

metamorphic
Blood Agate

Blood Agate

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

gemstone

Crimson Obsidian

A deep red glass sold as obsidian; vivid uniform crimson material is usually manufactured glass rather than natural volcanic obsidian.

igneous
Strawberry Garnet

Strawberry Garnet

A bright strawberry-red garnet, typically an almandine-pyrope blend prized for its juicy, lively red color in jewelry.

gemstone
Rubellite

Rubellite

The red to raspberry-pink variety of tourmaline, prized for its vivid ruby-like color that holds under both daylight and artificial light.

gemstone
Raspberry Garnet

Raspberry Garnet

A vivid pinkish-red rhodolite garnet named for its raspberry color, a bright pyrope-almandine blend popular in jewelry.

gemstone
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
Bohemian Garnet

Bohemian Garnet

Small, intensely red chrome-pyrope garnets from the Czech Bohemian region, famous for densely set antique Victorian jewelry.

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
Cataclasite

Cataclasite

A cohesive fault rock formed by brittle crushing and grinding of rock along a fault zone, with angular fragments in a fine matrix.

metamorphic

Cherry Obsidian

A vivid cherry-red glass sold as obsidian; the bright transparent red color is manufactured, as natural obsidian only shows dull red-brown mahogany tones.

igneous
Crocoite

Crocoite

A striking lead chromate mineral prized for its brilliant orange-red prismatic crystals, with the finest specimens from Tasmania.

mineral

Pulaskite

A coarse-grained alkali syenite of perthitic feldspar with sodic pyroxene or amphibole and minor nepheline, from Pulaski County, Arkansas.

igneous
Anorthosite

Anorthosite

An intrusive igneous rock made almost entirely of plagioclase feldspar, famous as the rock of the lunar highlands.

igneous
Tinguaite

Tinguaite

A fine-grained green phonolitic dike rock rich in nepheline and aegirine, the hypabyssal equivalent of phonolite.

igneous
Orbicular Granite

Orbicular Granite

A rare granitic rock containing concentric, onion-like spheres called orbicules, prized as a striking ornamental stone.

igneous

Sandstone

A clastic sedimentary rock made of cemented sand grains, often quartz, recording ancient beaches, deserts, and rivers.

sedimentary
Siberite

Siberite

A historic name for the red-violet to purplish lithium tourmaline first prized from Siberia, closely tied to the rubellite variety.

gemstone
Peridotite

Peridotite

A dense, coarse-grained ultramafic rock rich in olivine that makes up most of the Earth's upper mantle.

igneous
Phosphorite

Phosphorite

Phosphate-rich sedimentary rock, the world's main source of phosphorus for fertilizers, formed in nutrient-rich marine settings.

sedimentary
Epidosite

Epidosite

A hard, pistachio-green rock composed mainly of epidote and quartz, formed by hydrothermal alteration of mafic rocks.

metamorphic

Nordmarkite

A light-colored alkali quartz syenite dominated by perthitic feldspar with minor quartz, from the Oslo igneous province of Norway.

igneous
Dunite

Dunite

An ultramafic intrusive rock made almost entirely of olivine, representing mantle material.

igneous
Limestone

Limestone

A soft carbonate sedimentary rock made mostly of calcite, often packed with marine fossils and prone to forming caves.

sedimentary