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.

Mint Green Tourmaline

Mint Green Tourmaline

A soft, refreshing mint-to-seafoam green elbaite tourmaline, lightly colored by iron and prized for clarity and a cool, airy hue.

gemstone
Green Jasper

Green Jasper

An opaque green variety of chalcedony quartz colored by iron and chlorite-group inclusions, prized as a durable carving and cabochon stone.

mineral
Emerald Green Tourmaline

Emerald Green Tourmaline

A richly saturated green variety of elbaite tourmaline whose color rivals emerald, colored by trace iron, chromium, or vanadium.

gemstone
Aquamarine Crystal

Aquamarine Crystal

The blue iron-bearing variety of beryl, forming clear hexagonal crystals prized both as specimens and as a March birthstone gem.

crystal
Pink Obsidian

Pink Obsidian

A pink to rose volcanic glass; some is natural iron-tinted obsidian while much sold commercially is color-treated glass.

igneous
Peacock Ore

Peacock Ore

A copper-iron sulfide ore famous for its iridescent peacock-like purple and blue tarnish; often sold as treated chalcopyrite.

mineral
Green Obsidian

Green Obsidian

Green-tinted volcanic glass; some is naturally colored by trace iron, but vivid emerald-green pieces are usually manufactured glass.

crystal
Golden Emerald

Golden Emerald

A trade name occasionally used for golden-yellow beryl (golden beryl or heliodor), the iron-colored yellow variety of the emerald mineral.

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
Pisolite

Pisolite

A sedimentary rock built from pea-sized concentric spheres called pisoids, often carbonate but sometimes iron or aluminum-rich.

sedimentary
Lime Green Tourmaline

Lime Green Tourmaline

A bright, fresh lime to yellowish-green elbaite tourmaline (verdelite), colored by iron and trace manganese for a lively spring-green tone.

gemstone
Green Tourmaline

Green Tourmaline

The green variety of tourmaline, also called verdelite, ranging from bright grass green to deep forest tones colored by iron.

gemstone
Verdelite

Verdelite

The classic green gem variety of elbaite tourmaline, ranging from bright grass-green to deep forest tones colored by iron or chromium.

gemstone
Yellow Obsidian

Yellow Obsidian

Yellow to golden volcanic glass; natural examples owe their color to iron, though much bright yellow obsidian on the market is manufactured glass.

igneous
Bumblebee Jasper

Bumblebee Jasper

A vivid yellow-and-black banded stone from Indonesian volcanic vents, colored by sulfur, arsenic minerals and iron oxides, not true jasper.

sedimentary
Quartz Arenite

Quartz Arenite

A clean, mature sandstone made almost entirely of quartz grains, representing extreme weathering, sorting, and recycling of sediment.

sedimentary
Koroit Opal

Koroit Opal

Boulder opal from the Koroit field in Queensland, famous for intricate ironstone matrix patterns laced with colorful precious opal.

gemstone
Boulder Opal

Boulder Opal

Precious opal that forms in thin veins within brown ironstone boulders, cut with the host rock left as a natural dark backing.

gemstone
Quilpie Opal

Quilpie Opal

Boulder opal from the Quilpie district of Queensland, Australia, with bright color set in dark ironstone matrix.

gemstone