Quartzite Pebble

Mohs hardness of 7, earthy yellowish-brown to tan color due to iron oxide weathering, dull to waxy luster, granoblastic texture, tough and non-porous

Formed through the regional or contact metamorphism of quartz sandstone under high heat and pressure, causing quartz grains to recrystallize into an interlocking mosaic; subsequently rounded by water erosion in riverbeds

Used in construction as crushed stone, railway ballast, landscaping gravel, and historically for stone tools due to its extreme durability

Quartzite is so hard and resistant to weathering that it often forms ridges and hilltops while surrounding softer rocks erode away

Identified by its inability to be scratched by a steel knife blade, sugary crystalline texture on fresh fractures, and smooth rounded shape from alluvial transport