Rant: This striped rock from the beach has me stumped, what is it?

Honestly, I picked up this rock during a trip to the coast and I've never seen anything like it. Tbh, it has clear white and gray stripes that look almost painted on, but they're part of the stone. Ngl, I tried looking in my old geology book, but the pictures don't match up well. It feels really smooth and heavy, like it's denser than normal beach rocks. I even asked a friend who collects minerals, and they had no idea either. Can anyone suggest how to figure this out or know what kind of rock forms stripes like that? Maybe there's a local club or something I could join for help.

3 comments

3 Comments

jamie1161mo ago

Understand your frustration! I grabbed a banded rock from a riverbed once, deep red and cream stripes that looked too perfect. Carried it around for months before a park ranger told me it was likely sandstone with mineral stains. Felt so cool to finally solve the mystery.

christopherjackson1mo ago

You mentioned feeling cool to solve the mystery, but is a stained sandstone rock really that big a deal? It's pretty, but carrying it for months seems like a lot for just a mineral stain. Like, it's not like you found a dinosaur bone or something. Why do we make such a fuss over ordinary things?

rubyschmidt24d ago

Wait, is it actually sandstone though? Because if it's heavy and dense, that doesn't sound like sandstone at all, sandstone is usually pretty light. @jamie116's river rock might have been, but yours could be something totally different like a banded chert or even a type of gneiss. The weight is a big clue. You should try doing a streak test on the back of a tile, see what color it leaves. A local rock club would know for sure, they love this stuff.