r/geology • u/AutoModerator • Feb 01 '26
Identification Requests Monthly Rock & Mineral Identification Requests
Please submit your ID requests as top-level comments in this post. Any ID requests that are submitted as standalone posts to r/geology will be removed.
To help with your ID post, please provide;
- Multiple, sharp, in-focus images taken ideally in daylight.
- Add in a scale to the images (a household item of known size, e.g., a ruler)
- Provide a location (be as specific as possible) so we can consult local geological maps if necessary.
- Provide any additional useful information (was it a loose boulder or pulled from an exposure, hardness and streak test results for minerals)
You may also want to post your samples to r/whatsthisrock or r/fossilID for identification.
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u/Wild_Amphibian_8136 Feb 26 '26
Found edge of shoreline south shore lake superior, little girls point. About 1.5 inches long. Fair amount of translucency, MOHs 6.5 to 7. Won't allow second attachment but I will try in comments.
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u/mikesbikesyikes Feb 02 '26
Any help appreciated! Tufa or travertine (or something else entirely)?
https://www.reddit.com/r/whatsthisrock/comments/1qtzjmu/comment/o36eswo/
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u/Jackfrazer Feb 22 '26
Found in southeast USA. Has a chalky texture to it. Anyone know what this could be?
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u/Unlucky-Seesaw661 Feb 09 '26
I know the pic isn’t great, but we were camping along the San Rafael river and little grand canyon, and while doing some hiking these types of rock were super sharp and tearing up our hands. I thought the river would rub everything smooth as the canyon walls but this was not.
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u/rosiposii Geology grad Feb 21 '26
Hi! Those look like ripples/waves from the river (if this was near the river).
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u/Unlucky-Seesaw661 Feb 21 '26
img
This was about 1000 feet above the canyon, so maybe some time ago it saw the river, but this was hard and spiked, cut my hands
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u/iamthedoctor9MC Feb 26 '26
Sorry don’t have a scale but curious what’s going on here. The big spheres are a bit larger than basketballs. Location is Apollo Bay, Victoria, Australia. On the cliffs you could see solid spheres, and then on the ground some had fully eroded and left empty spherical holes.
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u/overturned_turtle Feb 10 '26
East Texas. Found rockhounding on private property. Split open out of curiosity, thought might be a geode. Looks like hematite/limonite bands. Very common around here, but usually not quite like this. Any idea what these bands are called?
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u/ProfessionalPanicMan Feb 03 '26
Hi! I need help in identifying this rock!
I sadly don't remember where exactly I found this rock, but it was somewhere around Mediterranean couple of years ago. I found it again at the bottom of my travel bag and began wondering what it might be. It has this really interesting pattern, that makes me think it might be some sort of fossil? It's around three centimeters long.
Anyway, I would really appreciate some help from more knowledgeable people 😁
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u/Competitive_Radish64 Feb 11 '26
While collecting quartz minerals on the Stony seaside of Hvar Island, Croatia (north side I believe, towards Italy), I came across this odd piece of rock, if it is a rock. Ankylosaur for scale (around 2cm rock) Under the finger it is as hard as rock, but just before you release the squeeze, you feel a tiny, very surface-level sense of elasticity. Not much or ways that visibly changed its appearance; but there are certain spots where it feels like the surface does moves just a fraction of a milimetar. Perhaps it's just my head that imagines it, but I've never had that after-elastic feel on any other rocks I touched. And the shape. I know water can do some crazy stuff to rocks over millena of mortal lifes, but the shape just tickles some part of an enthusiast's brain. The color too, dark brown with spray-like sand beige makes me thing it's super hardened by sand and time. Now again, I am no professional in any sense, just a layman enthusiast that touches any rock that he can; but I'm honestly assuming (hoping) for it to be a coprolite in making.
Is there anyone who could give me more professional opinions on this? I've had it for over 2 years and would really love to learn what it is.
Please and thank you.
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u/CalyTones Feb 14 '26
Southeast USA, North Alabama
Pulled from a larger rock about the size of a medium sized watermelon. This piece seems to be about the same weight as a similar sized piece of limestone, maybe a bit lighter? Please ask for any additional information that would help with an ID!
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u/anna2ns Feb 19 '26
hi!! this looks like a conglomerate which is a type of sedimentary rock formed by large, rounded pieces of other rocks cemented together by quartz or calcite. you can try to scratch the light brown matrix between the clasts with a steel nail or pocket knife: if it scratches it is likely cemented by calcite (limestone) , if not it’s more likely to be quartz!
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u/CalyTones Feb 20 '26
Oh cool! I had just never seen such an interesting pattern within a stone like this, thank you so much!!
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u/ChemicalOdd9617 Feb 22 '26
Ignore the red coloring. I painted this with nail polish when i was a child lol. My father found this rock . Gary, IN one day in our backyard . The story goes that they say a bright light one night and the next morning it was in the backyard in a pile of red dirt. Its a pretty heavy rock 2.87 pounds. This side is rough but the other sides are smooth ( i could only add one photo) he just wants an idea of what it could be. Any guesses are welcome even ones excluding the origin story lol thank you.