Rock & Mineral Encyclopedia

Search and identify 1,000+ rocks, minerals, crystals, and gemstones — with properties, formation, colors, hardness, and how to tell them apart.

Scenic Jasper

A patterned jasper whose bands and inclusions create miniature landscapes of deserts, mountains, and skies within the stone.

A labradorite feldspar cut to show a moving band of light (chatoyancy), sometimes combined with labradorescent color flashes.

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

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

A golden-brown chatoyant quartz with a shimmering silky band of light, formed when quartz replaces fibrous crocidolite.

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

Obsidian formed from two merged lava flows, producing a stone with two distinct bands of sheen or color.

Green tourmaline cut as a cabochon to show a sharp moving band of light (chatoyancy) caused by fine parallel inclusions.

A landscape-patterned Chinese jasper prized for warm cherry-red, cream, and green bands resembling painted scenery.

Pink beryl (morganite) that shows chatoyancy, a moving band of light, when cut as a cabochon, thanks to parallel tube inclusions.

An opaque jasper from the Cave Creek area of Arizona, prized for earthy mottled and banded patterns in warm desert tones.

A fortification agate from the Black Hills of South Dakota, known for tight, colorful banding closely related to the famous Fairburn agate.