Image: Darrell Gulin/Stockbyte/Getty Images
About This Quiz
Be warned! The names on this Earth science challenge are not at all easy! But we are here to help you on your journey with this mineral identification quiz. While taking your digital excursion, don't forget to pause and admire the beautiful imagery we've amassed of some of the Earth's unusual natural substances. If you are a mineral pro, then be mindful of the generous tips we provide in the questions.
Geology pros know that rocks are not just hindering blocks, and dirt is so much more than worthless grime. There's a method to this fun magnified quiz madness! We implore you to take closer looks at the Earth around and beneath you to appreciate its hidden gems.
It took the Earth millions of years and pressure to create the crust and crystals that we see today. We use some of those materials to build things, and other minerals, like diamond and gold, to satisfy our aesthetic desires. Newer minerals might happen by accident or in a laboratory, and there are plenty from which to choose. There are so many minerals, you'd think we had run out of names for them. This would explain the creative labels you'll notice in this quiz. We make light of the naming conventions so that you can enjoy the view.
Scroll on and enjoy this visual mineral feast!
Abhurite
Abhurite is a novel compound that humans developed unintentionally. The mineral emerged from the mining process and the reactivity of old metals at sea. Two hundred and eight incidental minerals exist today.
Blossite
Digenite
Gormanite
Advertisement
Indite
Meionite
Abramovite
Abramovite is a novel mineral compound that was mined from the Kudrayavy volcano in Iturup Island, Russia. The mineral is named for Russian mineralogist Dmitry Abramov and is housed at the A.E. Fersman Mineralogical Museum in Russia, one of the world's largest mineral repositories.
Orthoclase
Advertisement
Picropharmacolite
Rhodochrosite
Acanthite
Acanthite is a metallic mineral with low hardness and high density. The black mineral compound is usually dull in appearance, but new acanthite is shiny when unexposed. The compound is a polymorph of silver sulfide.
Uraninite
Advertisement
Actinolite
Actinolite is classified as one of several "skarn ores" that exist in limestones. The mineral typically exhibits an asbestos surface texture. Molybdenite and malachite are deposits often found in actinolite skarn.
Vesuvianite
Xieite
Gibbsite
Advertisement
Ferroselite
Euchroite
Adamite
The Ojuela mine of Mapimi in Mexico contains 117 types of minerals, including dull pink adamite compounds. The mine carves out 280 miles of the limestone landform known as Bufa de Mapimi.
Digenite
Advertisement
Aegirine
Aegirine is a rock-forming mineral linked to zircon, smoky quartz and microcline. The mineral has been extensively mined at Zomba, Malawi, in East Africa since the 1950s and 1960s. Relatively large crystals have been discovered at the Chinduzi-Chikala mountain range.
Geerite
Iron
Kalininite
Advertisement
Litharge
Minium
Niter
Afghanite
Blue afghanite was referred to as a new species in the late 1960s. Metasomatized rocks contain skarns of afghanite that were the result of limestone volcanic activity or igneous formations.
Advertisement
Papagoite
Qusongite
Rock crystal
Afwillite
Afwillite has been mined from the Bultfontein kimberlite in South Africa. The mineral is a monoclinic hydrous silicate. It is named for Alpheus Fuller Williams of De Beers Consolidated Mines, Ltd. who first discovered it at the Dutoitspan diamond mine in 1923.
Advertisement
Agardite
A rare copper mineral micromineral, agardite occurs as the foggy-blue crystalline surface on goethite. It has been discovered at a number of mining areas in New Mexico that are now inactive.
Sinoite
Thorite
Marrite
Advertisement
Johannite
Babingtonite
When it was first discovered, babingtonite was passed off and sold as augite minerals. You'll find unrefined sharp, black babingtonite paired with epidote or quartz crystals. Babingtonite has been mined at Gronsjoberg in Sweden.
Homilite
Gold
Advertisement
Feroxyhyte
Elbaite
Cabalzarite
The refractive index for cabalzarite, a secondary microcrystalline mineral, is roughly 1.7. Of the tsumcorite category, the novel mineral has been found at the Falotta, an abandoned mine in the Swiss Alps.
Cervantite
Advertisement
Litharge
Mullite
Danburite
Danburite takes on a tetrahedral structure that consists of widely distributed silicon and boron. It is one of a few boron gemstones of commercial importance. Danburite has been found in Switzerland, Mexico, Japan and Sri Lanka.
Indium
Advertisement
Junitoite
Dioptase
Cacoxenite
Cacoxenite is one of the last minerals to form in the phosphate pegmatites system. The infrequently occurring phosphate mineral casts a more vivid yellow appearance in iron ores than other more abundant phosphates.
Cerite
Advertisement
Olgite
Rammelsbergite
Prehnite
Datolite
You'll find forms of datolite at Lake Superior, which is the world's biggest reserve of mined copper. Datolite typically encompasses traces of copper. The mineral is a calcium boron silicate hydroxide.
Advertisement
Perite
Rutherfordine
Edingtonite
Edingtonite is a microporous, all-silica mineral that has been mined at Ice River, Canada, and Jacupiranga, Brazil. The mineral is constructed from a paulingite packing cavity and a smaller tetragonal scalenohedra cavity.
Stilleite
Advertisement
Hercynite
Fluckite
Ferberite
The black ferberite mineral is classified as the last iron tungstate derivation of the wolframite series. Although it contains metallic crystals, this brittle specimen is magnetically weak.
Glaucodot
Advertisement
Hibonite
Indium
Galkhaite
The thallium-containing sulfosalt galkhaite is a very rare mineral that casts shades of black and red. It is believed that, since galkhaite is typically enclosed in gold-carrying silica, a galkhaite discovery at Nevada's Getchell mine had formed from the deposition of gold.
Jeremejevite
Advertisement
Hydroboracite
Gaspeite
The rare apple-green gaspeite specimen takes its name from the Gaspe Peninsula where the stone was first found in Quebec, Canada. One of the biggest lodes of the mineral was discovered at a nickel mine in Western Australia.
Julgoldite
Gypsum
Advertisement
Ixiolite
Gedrite
Sodium-rich gedrite is classified as an orthoamphibole commonly found in metamorphic rocks. The first occurrence of the primary igneous specimen took place at the gabbro in Eriksberg, Sweden.
Jurbanite
Kottigite
Advertisement
Copper
Calcite
Halite
The Cargill Cleveland Salt Mine near Lake Erie has the most abundant reserves of halite in the United States. Halite is the scientific name for salt. Embedded halites consist of chevron-shaped vertical crystals.
Cymrite
Advertisement
Coesite
Calcite
Jurbanite
Ikaite
Primarily located off the shores of Greenland and Antarctica, the ikaite mineral is comprised of water and calcium carbonate. Cold waters are the ideal formation environments for this rare specimen.
Advertisement
Jadeite
The condensed and hard jadeite mineral forms in areas called tectonic subduction zones where the pressure is high and the temperature is low. Ancient cultures of the Americas coveted the sturdy mineral.
Lead
Mendipite
Otavite
Advertisement
Portlandite
Romeite
Kainite
The Polymineral State Chemical Plant at Lviv Oblast in Stebnyk, Ukraine, has the capacity to extract 1 million tons of kainite every year. The mineral is a naturally-occurring salt necessary for the production of potassium-based fertilizers.
Tin
Advertisement
Vulcanite
Wyartite
Zippeite
Labradorite
Dark-hued labradorite mineral has microscopic layers that allow for the light interference responsible for the mineral's schiller, or bronzy luster. Supposedly, red labradorite does not contain this layer, yet there exist fine bits of copper throughout the specimen type.
Advertisement
Connellite
Chlorite
Dundasite
Anglesite
The secondary mineral anglesite is a pale-to-gray nonmetallic brittle specimen. Green, yellow and blue variations also exist, though rarely. Anglesite is classified as a barite mineral.
Advertisement
Euchroite
Linarite
Colors of the brittle linarite mineral range from dark to light blue. The rare specimen is classified as a basic sulfate composed of lead and copper. Linarite is usually discovered and distributed in small amounts.
Franckeite
Greenalite
Advertisement
Jennite
Magnesite
Magnesite crystals are formed pseudohexagonally, and shapes vary by hue. White crystals are comprised of small prism structures, and barrel shapes are common in yellow specimens. Magnesite mineral forms can also be colorless.
Kernite
Bromellite
Advertisement
Malachite
Of all green minerals, malachite is one of the most common. The specimen occurs in abundance in the Shaba region of Africa's Democratic Republic of Congo. It has been assumed that the mineral's green shades are caused by alternating tennantite and chalcopyrite.
Calaverite
Delessite
Fassaite
Advertisement
Lyonsite
Phlogopite
You can find phlogopite in Grenville metamorphosed limestone. The mineral results as tabular or extended crystals. Mogok, Myanmar, and Badakhshan, Afghanistan, are locations where the crystals have been mined.
Powellite
Roumanite
Advertisement
Turquoise
Rutile
The tetragonal rutile mineral is not always black; the specimen's name is derived from a Latin word that means "red." There are pale versions of man-made rutile. Naturally-occurring rutile tones include green, deep-browns, yellow shades and darker tones of red and blue.
Vlasovite
Wustite
Advertisement
Dravite
Dravite occurs copiously in danburite, giving the derived specimen its dark-brown tone. Dravite forms exist in shades ranging from pale brown to reddish-brown, and even black. The mineral may have a high ferrous content.
Zorite
Gordaite
Cooperite
Advertisement
Delvauxite
Lead
Tennantite
Tennantite is copper iron arsenic sulfide. The mineral, which ranges from gray to black, is common in sulfosalts and sulfides. Tennantite crystals have reddish translucent extremities.
Kunzite
Advertisement
Liroconite
Niter
Schorl
Black and translucent red shorl, or tourmaline, exist as clumps of fan-shaped acicular crystals. Large schorl crystals are typically black, while very small crystals reflect a reddish-brown hue.
Petzite
Advertisement
Qusongite
Ruizite
Pyrolusite
Pyrolusite exists as a lustrous black layer on rocks connected with epidote and chabazite. The mineral appears as black curvy dendritic bands that exhibit obvious traces of manganese.
Spodumene
Advertisement
Sabieite
Trona
Kochite
Quartz
Artichoke quartz from China is a unique variation whereby quartz subcrystals are stepped to form a mosaic pattern on the rhombohedron and/or prism. Such a phenomenon creates a rounded "artichoke" formation that some mineralogists have termed "Artischockenquarz."
Advertisement
You Got:
/35
_1.jpg){kind=link}
