Rock & Mineral Encyclopedia

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

Marble

A metamorphosed limestone of interlocking calcite crystals, prized for sculpture and architecture for its workability and polish.

A green-and-white banded metamorphic marble whose wavy mica layers resemble the rings of a sliced onion.

A pure, translucent white marble from the Greek island of Paros, the preferred stone of ancient sculptors for its waxy glow.

A famous white to blue-grey Italian marble from Carrara, prized for centuries by sculptors and architects for its purity and fine grain.

The fine white marble of Mount Pentelikon used to build the Parthenon, famous for the golden patina it develops with age.

A fractured fine-grained limestone whose iron-stained crack networks form natural scenes resembling ruined cities and landscapes.

Translucent banded calcium-carbonate stone deposited in caves and springs, prized for ornamental carvings despite its softness.

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

A marbled, abstractly patterned stone resembling modern art, technically a metamorphosed limestone rather than a true silica jasper.

A 'mixed rock' showing swirling light and dark bands, formed where high-grade metamorphism causes rock to begin partially melting.

A fossiliferous limestone built largely from the disc-shaped skeletal plates of crinoids, marine animals known as sea lilies.

A green, often mottled metamorphic rock formed by the hydration of mantle rocks, soft and waxy with a smooth, slippery feel.

A black-and-white striped chalcedony-quartz rock whose bold zebra-like banding makes it a popular ornamental and lapidary stone.

A foliated metamorphic rock of calcite mixed with mica, quartz, and calc-silicate minerals, derived from marly sediments.

A rose-pink manganese silicate marbled with black veins, prized as a tough ornamental and occasionally faceted gemstone.