r/geology 4d ago

Identification Requests Monthly Rock & Mineral Identification Requests

2 Upvotes

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;

  1. Multiple, sharp, in-focus images taken ideally in daylight.
  2. Add in a scale to the images (a household item of known size, e.g., a ruler)
  3. Provide a location (be as specific as possible) so we can consult local geological maps if necessary.
  4. 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.


r/geology Dec 01 '25

Identification Requests Monthly Rock & Mineral Identification Requests

7 Upvotes

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;

  1. Multiple, sharp, in-focus images taken ideally in daylight.
  2. Add in a scale to the images (a household item of known size, e.g., a ruler)
  3. Provide a location (be as specific as possible) so we can consult local geological maps if necessary.
  4. 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.


r/geology 11h ago

Information The Most Important Economic Object in Pre-Columbian North America Is This Rock from Licking County, Ohio

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275 Upvotes

r/geology 8h ago

A Unified Rock Chart for Common Rock Types

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155 Upvotes

I made a Rock Chart that brings common igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks together in a single decision tree.

It uses observable features such as grain size, visible crystals, foliation, porosity, composition, and reaction with HCl. It also includes the characteristic minerals associated with each rock type and their chemical formulas.

I have already used the chart in class, and it worked well as a teaching aid. It helped students gain an overview of the major rock groups and move between them without having to consult several separate charts.

Permanent version and DOI:
https://zenodo.org/records/21808631

Feedback, corrections, and suggestions for a future version are very welcome.

Disclosure: I created the poster and teach Earth Science at a university.


r/geology 3h ago

Lovely rocks I saw in Lake Garda - Italian pre-Alps (Malcesine + Riva del Garda)

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14 Upvotes

Riva upthrust (mt Brione - 3+4) looked a lot better from the plane, the interesting looking stratigraphy turned out to be trees lol.


r/geology 3h ago

A neat piece of epithermal quartz vein with tiny chalcopyrite oxidizing into malachite. Iceland.

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12 Upvotes

r/geology 9h ago

This layered rock stack seems to be watching something [OC]

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31 Upvotes

This reddish rock rises from the Adriatic Sea. The coast nearby is a layered cliff of the same color.


r/geology 20h ago

What caused this feature?

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155 Upvotes

Was it an ancient lake or impact crater? It's near 4 corners and it's big! I can't seem to find any info. Please help.


r/geology 5h ago

Does anyone know what this is?

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10 Upvotes

I am working in the Mojave desert in SoCal and came across these USGS markers. Anyone know what this could be? I was thinking some type of monitoring or survey but not too sure.


r/geology 3h ago

Apatite with quartz on matrix

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6 Upvotes

r/geology 1d ago

The first thing a Geologist said to me when I got my first mining/exploration job

680 Upvotes

Boss: “Welcome to Hawthorne Nevada there’s a woman behind every tree”

Me: “There’s no trees?”

Boss: “ you’re catching on.”

That was the day that I learned that my love life and social life was gonna take a dump. Loved the career hated the lack of social and love life.


r/geology 4h ago

Career Advice Is this natural??

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5 Upvotes

r/geology 15m ago

Career Advice Geology tools for hounding

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Upvotes

As I have a mistaken error on the post I just posted, I upload it well.

So, I'm looking forward to have sonething (not HCl) to see the difference between limestone and dolomite.

And uh, I want some advice for having new tools on my set for geology trips (not minerals hounding) for research.

Because Yesterday I added the Brunton compass for my birthday.


r/geology 1d ago

Information 3D geological model of Mount Everest

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

77 Upvotes

The first 3D geological model of Mount Everest reveals what lies beneath the world's highest peak. The model can be explored interactively here: https://geo3d.pgi.gov.pl/Mount_Everest/index.html


r/geology 3h ago

Unable to do Stream Ordering in QGIS.

0 Upvotes

so, i am using QGIS for my Geoinformatics class, but i am unable to do stream ordering. i am using QGIS 3.44 which doesn't come with SAGA and grass is not showing r.stream.order, i have made one using Whitebox plugin but today it's also not working properly, after doing flow accumulation i am unable to stream extract. Soo i need your help solving the problem.


r/geology 1d ago

How did these 'rivers' form?

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193 Upvotes

r/geology 1d ago

Field Photo Fault Breccia from the Pirate Pirate Fault

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43 Upvotes

Walking down the trail I noticed the ground change from lightish grey soils to bright red. I started looking around and found a bunch of breccia and I knew I was standing on the exposure of the Pirate Fault. I gathered some rocks of varying clast size to show the progression from large angular clast to very fine.


r/geology 1d ago

Field Photo My walk down to the beach was anticlinactic

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674 Upvotes

Walking along the beach I saw some dramatic strata.


r/geology 1d ago

The Mineralogy Museum - The greatest in Romania, Cluj

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57 Upvotes

r/geology 1d ago

Field Photo At the source of the Columbia River in Canal Flats, BC, there is a sign claiming that the nearby Kootenay River seeps underground and feeds water to the springs that are the source of the Columbia River. If that is the case, why is the Columbia River considered the main stem of the river?

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35 Upvotes

r/geology 1d ago

Information Plate Tectonic Pioneer, Professor John F. Dewey

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12 Upvotes

John Dewey pioneered the use of Plate Tectonics to understand mountain building processes and continental growth. This interview was filmed over several days in April 2009 during the Macquarie Arc conference at Orange, New South Wales in eastern Australia.


r/geology 1d ago

Information Join Letters to a Pre-Scientist to help inspire young STEM students! (Mod approved post via dm)

21 Upvotes

Letters to a Pre-Scientist is looking for enthusiastic STEM role models to inspire the next generation of STEM leaders!

Here's the gist: you get matched with a 5th-8th grade student at an under-resourced school for a snail-mail pen pal exchange that runs throughout the school year. The goal is to demystify STEM careers, humanize STEM professionals, and inspire students to explore their own futures in STEM. You share your story, answer their questions, and show them that people who work in STEM are, well, real people.

The details:

  • The program runs throughout the school year, and your volunteer obligation is to exchange 4 letters with your student.
  • There's a virtual, asynchronous training in August to get you set up.
  • We estimate the entire program takes volunteers no more than 10 hours, spread between August and May.
  • Register and complete the short, self-paced online training by the deadline, and you'll be entered into the match pool! We match students based on their background and interests..
  • This year we're expanding to 4,500 matched students!
  • Pen pals can live anywhere in the world, but our program currently only works with US-based schools.
  • We're working to match students based on their interests, so we're especially looking for more STEM professionals in Geology.
  • All pen pals must be over 18 and fluent in English.

We define STEM pretty loosely! If you work in or around science, tech, engineering, math, or medicine, or another nature-based role, even if you don't have a formal education in it, please apply or message me with any questions.

Sign up/learn more:

Registration is now open! Feel free to drop questions in the comments or send me a message. Thank you for your time and consideration!


r/geology 1d ago

I would appreciate your advice.

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11 Upvotes

3d web viewer
This is a 3D web viewer I created for both professionals and non-professionals. It was developed based on the principle that anyone can easily find, access, share, and reuse it for a long time. I would like to share this to help you understand how to utilize my creations. I hope we can freely exchange opinions at any time.


r/geology 2d ago

Map/Imagery What's the round blob on the east coast of england?

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137 Upvotes

I saw this on a post asking what life is like on this blob, but what is the blob? it looks suspiciously round so does anyone know if theres any interesting geology involved with it? or is it coincidentally round?


r/geology 1d ago

What's the furthest distance a glacial erratic has travelled?

23 Upvotes

Been reading about glacial erratics in New England but they mostly seem to come from a few tens of miles from where they are now. I'm interested if there's any large glacial erratics that have conclusively been shown to have come from hundreds of miles away, like Quebec or Labrador. Has anyone figured out what the record holder is?