Quartz

minerals · earth science · crystals

Super tough stuff. Quartz is incredibly hard and doesn't break down easily, which is why you find it in sand on beaches and in rock formations all around the world.

Locked together atoms. Quartz is made of silicon and oxygen atoms connected in a special repeating pattern called a framework, kind of like a microscopic cage that's extremely strong.

Everywhere on Earth. Quartz makes up about 12% of all the rock in Earth's outer layer, which means it's almost as common as dirt, because dirt often contains quartz!

Sparkly crystals. When quartz forms slowly underground in the right conditions, it grows into beautiful six-sided crystals that can be clear, purple, pink, or smoky depending on tiny impurities mixed in.

Never gets old. Because quartz is so tough and doesn't change easily, geologists can study quartz grains to figure out how old rocks are and what Earth was like millions of years ago.