What is the Difference Between Agate, Jasper, Chalcedony, and Chert?

Agate, jasper, chalcedony, and chert are all varieties of micro-crystalline quartz. Quartz is the crystal form of silicon dioxide. However each of these minerals are scientifically a little different...but also sometimes the same! We'll discuss those differences and more today! We'll also discuss what causes fluorescence (a phenomenon that can happen with some of these minerals) as well!
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#crystals #gems #minerals #fossils #earth #earthscience #agate #jasper #chalcedony #chert #quartz

[@mooneyfinemineral]

Want to support the channel? Toss a comment down here! What do you want to see next?

[@amberandrews6842]

That was a superlative explanation. Also I really loved every pretty rock you showed.

[@mooneyfinemineral]

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed the video 😄.

[@timkai]

Holy crow! James, you are SO CLOSE to 100K followers! 😆🎉🎉 Also, great video!

[@mooneyfinemineral]

SO CLOSE I CAN TASTE IT! And thanks!

[@Eddisdedd]

That rainbow iridescent agate I really want to eat omg so pretty

[@mooneyfinemineral]

Ya'll have so much goblin energy 😆...or maybe crow energy.

[@amberandrews6842]

More Pretty Rocks!!! WooHoo!!

[@mooneyfinemineral]

You want to see more pretty rocks! OKAY!

[@amberandrews6842]

@@mooneyfinemineral 🥰🥰🥰🥰 always!!!

[@mooneyfinemineral]

@@amberandrews6842 It will be done!!!!

[@misfitGazelle]

Agates are one of my favorites, so diverse, so unique. The ultimate forbidden candy 😂 🍭 so happy to be from Michigan where we can literally just go lake Superior, look down, and pick up an agate ❤

[@mooneyfinemineral]

Ohhhhhh Lakers are fun!!!

[@srely3786]

Awesome video! The colours are just gorgeous! Loved the explanation. ❤❤

[@mooneyfinemineral]

Glad to hear that!!! :D

[@JnVrockhounding]

Great video bud. Gonna share this to my fb and a couple discord podcast channels I’m on.

[@mooneyfinemineral]

Glad you found it beneficial! And thanks for that. Hope they enjoy 😄.

[@amberandrews6842]

Thanks!

[@mooneyfinemineral]

Awww! You didn't have to do that but thank you so much!

[@aureliekingsley660]

Thank you Ive been trying to understand all of these differences. To me in all the quartz, chalcedony etc. Quartz is so versatile. All depends on the environmental conditions in which silicate dioxide grows in. Amazing Nature. We are so fortunate to see the beauty of nature. Thank you.

[@mooneyfinemineral]

You are so very welcome!

[@newshodgepodge6329]

Very informative and well explained. This cleared up some confusion for me. But I will have to watch this again later to definitively remember which label goes with which mineral.

[@mooneyfinemineral]

I know it's a little technical for some but I'm glad it made sense!

[@patchnl2699]

Ive polished some nice chert. Translucent aswell

[@brandymiller2298]

I just finnished working on a piece of banded amethyst. I put it into a freeform copper pendant.

[@mooneyfinemineral]

I like the banded amethysts 😄.

[@garrettmillsap]

Well done!

[@mooneyfinemineral]

Thank you!

[@bellablue5285]

Honestly I generally assumed 'looks like tree rings = agate', unless it's mossy agate 😅 I do quite like these educational vids, I love the sparkly shiny ones, these I get to learn something too!

[@bellablue5285]

Also that conglomerate looks like the banks of the brooks around here - all sorts of different reds and yellows and whites and clears, except they tend to be loose (once freed of the brook mud)

[@mooneyfinemineral]

And you'd USUALLY be right 😄. Glad you liked the video!

[@mooneyfinemineral]

ALSO some "plume agates" that are usually considered agate aren't banded and not agate. However Sweetwater Moss agates and the Montana Moss agates do have banding, it's just really faint and hard to see because of how old they are :D! Some of the lines can be blurry sometimes!

[@dougsmart3678]

Thanks rock doc lol this will be useful next time I'm at my gem store

[@mooneyfinemineral]

Glad I can be of assistance!

[@rwsandersinfo]

Do you ever do a video focused on the Ozarks?

[@mooneyfinemineral]

I haven't yet but it's something I can add to the list!

[@solverfix]

One of the best explanations I've come across on this subject...thanks for putting this out there! Did you say that chrysoprase is a chalcedony or a chert? Also, does obsidian fall into the SiO2 category? Thanks again!

[@mooneyfinemineral]

Hello! Thanks for that! Chrysoprase is in the chalcedony category and gets it's color from nickel bearing inclusions 😄. Obsidian is also in the SiO2 category but it's a mineraloid and not a mineral since it's a glass. It doesn't have a complete/consistent internal structure.

[@solverfix]

@@mooneyfinemineral Thanks for your reply! Sorry one more question...does opal fall into this category as well?

[@mooneyfinemineral]

Hey no worries and any time. Opal is comprised of water and very tiny pieces of silica. But it doesn't have a consistent chemical structure, either as it can absorb or lose water content. So it's grandfathered in as a mineral for historical purposes but isn't a mineral by modern standards :) @@solverfix

[@mooneyfinemineral]

@@solverfix I suppose I should answer that a little better. Opal is silica and water but doesn't fall into any of these particular categories. Same with obsidian. All have silica, but it's not a chalcedony, chert, agate, or jasper :D. Hope that helps!

[@solverfix]

@@mooneyfinemineral Absolutely! Thanks for taking the time to answer! Appreciate you sharing your knowledge. I ask because I have collected several thunderegg specimens over here in Oregon and some have a mixture of chalcedony, agate, jasper with some common opal and quartz as well. Seems they flow from one to the next inside the same space. Oregon is littered with agates and jaspers and many pieces I have found seem to exhibit this tendency as well.

[@aflood3446]

Jasper is so underrated

[@mooneyfinemineral]

It can be! And there are some really interesting types 😄.

[@aflood3446]

@mooneyfinemineral dalmation jasper for the win! (At least for me)

[@mooneyfinemineral]

Dalmatian jasper is really, really fun. And so aptly named!!! @@aflood3446

[@SweetSunrising]

I need 0:56 on a T-shirt! 🦖☄️❤

[@horseflower1234]

Wooo -impatient happy wiggles -

[@mooneyfinemineral]

:D!!!

[@JoanieBC]

Excellent explanation, even though I had to watch a couple times to absorb the info. Maybe it's the head injury, but it really did take a second watch to pick up what you were laying down. 😅

[@mooneyfinemineral]

Sorry...this one ended up being a lot more technical. Hard to distill it down any further 😅.

[@JoanieBC]

@mooneyfinemineral that's what I liked! I'll almost always choose technical and dripping in facts over quick bites of fluff (though they're delightful).

[@mooneyfinemineral]

@@JoanieBC Well I'm glad! Unfortunately I haven't found the right balance yet haha.

[@misfitGazelle]

Do you know of any good places to buy genuine iris agate? Or does your shop have any? 😁

[@mooneyfinemineral]

No, can't say I do. It's not something that is consistently mined so there isn't a large market producing it. I haven't had any for a couple of years sadly.

[@TheDonParadox]

Shiny

[@mooneyfinemineral]

SHINY!!!

[@brandymiller2298]

Ga so much chert, fossil rocks with seashell indentions.

[@mooneyfinemineral]

And the down side to chert fossils is that they are too much hassle to prep like other fossils 😫.

[@brandymiller2298]

@@mooneyfinemineral Most of these rocks are extremly hard chert inside and will mess up your saw wet saw blades right left and center. You are not guaranteed to get the fossil out whole.

[@mooneyfinemineral]

For sure. And you can't air scribe like you can with softer materials like shale.

[@stateofdisorder1]

I think I sorta understood…..but my brain hurts now

[@mooneyfinemineral]

Sorry, that's about as far as I can distill it :(

[@mooneyfinemineral]

All are made of up of tiny SiO2 bits (quartz). They are just different types. Chalcedony is one type. Agate is a specific type of chalcedony. Chert is made up of granular quartz or chalcedony. Jasper is a colloquial name and can be either chert or chalcedony (but the opaque stuff).

[@stateofdisorder1]

@@mooneyfinemineral ok now that makes sense lol

[@fennynough6962]

Brilliant, explanation of God's amazing creations! Would definitely, [when calling a, elongated length, slow microcrystia fiberious Quartz conglomerate]; a stretch to still call it Calcedeny. It has now jumped up from a #7 MOH, to a uverwhelming #9.5 MOH! Thus a, new title of Quartzatite. Just sayin. Earliest man-made tool from Quartzatite is found to be unknappable! Any ideas? of how they put a workable blade cut surface on this Calcedeny or "Quartzatite?