Rock & Mineral Encyclopedia

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

Picture Jasper

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

Ancient chemically deposited rock of alternating iron-oxide and silica bands recording Earth's early oxygenation and a major iron ore source.

Rounded nodules of translucent obsidian, named after a Native American legend, that glow smoky brown when held to light.

A banded, metamorphosed iron formation in which bright red jasper alternates with silvery hematite or magnetite layers.

A metamorphosed banded iron formation of alternating quartz and iron-oxide layers, mined as a major iron ore.

A pale translucent chalcedony threaded with brown-black manganese and iron dendrites that mimic tiny ferns, mosses or landscapes.

A microcrystalline quartz jasper marked by small concentric ring or eye patterns that resemble the eyes of birds.

Glacially transported banded agates found along Lake Huron's shores, typically small, frosted pebbles with red-orange iron banding.