# Do we know all the rocks there are? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 20, 2025, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-know-all-the-rocks-there-are/1018569 "2025-05-20T09:38:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Precambrianmollusc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/precambrianmollusc/32/63_2.png) [@Precambrianmollusc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Precambrianmollusc)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2025, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-know-all-the-rocks-there-are/1018569/21 "2025-05-21T00:32:57Z")
Lots of new minerals are being discovered [https://www.mindat.org/min-471064.html](https://www.mindat.org/min-471064.html) Is from a paper in 2024 , you can trawl your way through all sorts of minerals in the website . ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2025, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-know-all-the-rocks-there-are/1018569/22 "2025-05-21T00:45:33Z")
> [@jnglmassiv](#): > > A naturally occurring true metal-ceramic matrix would be somewhat rocky and an unexpected find. You mean something like [bauxite](https://geologyscience.com/rocks/bauxite/)? Stranger ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2025, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-know-all-the-rocks-there-are/1018569/23 "2025-05-21T06:39:26Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > If you can get new crystal structures of even pure elements, then you can most certainly make new kinds of rocks out of them. Not necessarily. If they still fall under the same families as existing minerals, they may not be a new rock. Rock classification is fairly coarse in its resolution. A rock may be defined as 90% Mineral X, 10% Other and if your new mineral is in that 10%, it would still be that same rock type - see e.g [dunite](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunite) or [quartzite](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quartzite). Also, AFAIK, [pentaheptite carbon is strictly theoretical](https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1361-648X/ac506e), not something found in nature _or even in a lab_. “Discovered” is a strong word to use there - “proposed” or "predicted: is much more accurate. > [@Precambrianmollusc](#): > > Lots of new minerals are being discovered Yep. But new mineral =/= new rock ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2025, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-know-all-the-rocks-there-are/1018569/24 "2025-05-21T14:16:48Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > something like [bauxite](https://geologyscience.com/rocks/bauxite/) If you think bauxite is an interesting new rock, we have lots more to show you. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2025, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-know-all-the-rocks-there-are/1018569/25 "2025-05-21T14:59:43Z")
> [@jnglmassiv](#): > > If you think bauxite is an interesting new rock, we have lots more to show you. No, I mean minerals that are composed of a “metal-ceramic matrix” are quite common. Most found on Earth are metallic oxides because most metallic elements are pretty reactive and free diatomic oxygen has been ever-present in the atmosphere for the last 3.5 billion years but only rarely are metals found in nearly pure veins and nuggets. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2025, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-know-all-the-rocks-there-are/1018569/26 "2025-05-21T17:14:11Z")
Rocks, as well as minerals and mineraloids must be naturally occurring by definition. Without such limit to the definition we would have to call concrete a type of rock abundantly found on Earth’s surface. Even disqualified as an aggregate with irregular composition, it can be made from just cement and naturally occurring rocks. And according to [one source](https://www.nachi.org/history-of-concrete.htm), there are naturally occurring deposits of cement, apparently similar to modern Portland Cement: > [@](#): > > As one of the key constituents of modern concrete, cement has been around for a long time. About 12 million years ago in what is now Israel, natural deposits were formed by reactions between limestone and oil shale that were produced by spontaneous combustion. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2025, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-know-all-the-rocks-there-are/1018569/27 "2025-05-21T18:14:23Z")
The AI company Deepmind created a program called GNOME that came up with 2.2 million new inorganic crystal structures. > **[Millions of new materials discovered with deep learning](https://deepmind.google/discover/blog/millions-of-new-materials-discovered-with-deep-learning/)** > > We share the discovery of 2.2 million new crystals – equivalent to nearly 800 years’ worth of knowledge. We introduce Graph Networks for Materials Exploration (GNoME), our new deep learning tool... Human experimentation had only come up with 20,000. The inorganic crystal structure database has 210,000 inorganic crystals. > **[Inorganic Crystal Structure Database](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inorganic_Crystal_Structure_Database)** > > Inorganic Crystal Structure Database (ICSD) is a chemical database founded in 1978 by Günter Bergerhoff at the University of Bonn in Germany and I. D. Brown at McMaster University in Canada. It is now produced by FIZ Karlsruhe in Europe and the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology. It seeks to contain information on all inorganic crystal structures published since 1913, including pure elements, minerals, metals, and intermetallic compounds (with atomic coordinates). ICSD c A Window... According to the International Mineralogical Association, there are over 5,000 known minerals on earth. So I suppose its possible that there are endless other variations of rocks and minerals that do not occur on earth. > **[International Mineralogical Association](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Mineralogical_Association)** > > Founded in 1958, the International Mineralogical Association (IMA) is an international group of 40 national societies. The goal is to promote the science of mineralogy and to standardize the nomenclature of the 5000 plus known mineral species. The IMA is affiliated with the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS). > The Association supports the activities of Commissions and Working Groups involved on certain aspects of mineralogical practice and facilitates interactions among mineralogis... ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2025, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-know-all-the-rocks-there-are/1018569/28 "2025-05-21T18:14:24Z")
> [@jnglmassiv](#): > > If you think bauxite is an interesting new rock, we have lots more to show you. Interesting thing about **bauxite** – it’s not really a single mineral. It doesn’t have one fixed composition, but it a collection of aluminum hydroxides, iron compounds, clay, and random other stuff. Giving it that single name “bauxite” is kinda misleading. Lots of useful ores are mixtures of things, but bauxite is even more varied than most. > [@](#): > > [Bauxite - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bauxite) > > Bauxite consists mostly of the aluminium [minerals](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mineral) [gibbsite](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gibbsite) (Al(OH)3), [boehmite](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boehmite) (γ-AlO(OH)), and [diaspore](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diaspore) (α-AlO(OH)), [mixed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mixture) with the two [iron oxides](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_oxide) [goethite](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goethite) (FeO(OH)) and [haematite](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haematite) (Fe2O3), the aluminium [clay mineral](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clay_minerals) [kaolinite](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaolinite) (Al2Si2O5(OH)4) and small amounts of [anatase](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anatase) (TiO2) and [ilmenite](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilmenite) (FeTiO3 or FeO·TiO2).[[1]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bauxite#cite_note-1)[[2]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bauxite#cite_note-2) Bauxite appears dull in [luster](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lustre_(mineralogy)) and is reddish-brown, white, or tan.[ ---
**Author:** ![JWT\_Kottekoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3ec8ea/32.png) [@JWT\_Kottekoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JWT_Kottekoe)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2025, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-know-all-the-rocks-there-are/1018569/29 "2025-05-21T23:20:45Z")
Humans are creating useful new minerals all the time, often in beautiful single crystals. For example new perovskites for superconductors or solar cells, new semiconductors for lasers, LEDs, photodiodes, and exotic transistors; exotic garnets like YAG for lasers and GGG with ten different elements for magnetic bubble memories; and YSZ for jewelry, This is not an answer to the question, since none of these fit the definition of rocks. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2025, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-know-all-the-rocks-there-are/1018569/30 "2025-05-22T01:18:06Z")
Generally speaking, a rock isn’t the thing that has interesting and useful properties, a rock is the thing that you crush to dust to extract the elements and minerals that have the interesting and useful properties. (Rocks tend to be used for stacking on top of each other for looking at or living in, or carved into interesting shapes for looking at or wearing.) ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2025, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-know-all-the-rocks-there-are/1018569/31 "2025-05-22T07:48:54Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > I mean minerals that are composed of a “metal-ceramic matrix” are quite common I disagree. I can’t really think of any minerals I’d characterize that way. That’s the language of materials science, not mineralogy. Closest thing I could think of would be [corundum with rutile _inclusions_](https://lotusgemology.com/resources/articles/128-rutile-in-corundum-following-the-silk-road-lotus-gemology), but that’s not the same thing as a single mineral composed of both ceramic and metal. And bauxite is a rock, not a mineral. > [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Generally speaking, a rock isn’t the thing that has interesting and useful properties Hard disagree. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2025, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-know-all-the-rocks-there-are/1018569/32 "2025-05-22T09:17:43Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > (Rocks tend to be used for stacking on top of each other for looking at or living in, or carved into interesting shapes for looking at or wearing.) I’d call those [stones](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-stone/979017). ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2025, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-know-all-the-rocks-there-are/1018569/33 "2025-05-22T10:07:41Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Hard disagree. In the context of building space elevators and fusion reactors they aren’t. I can see, say, a specific feldspar turning out to have an exotic use in high tech, but not “granite”. Granite is what you use to build the building you do the high tech stuff in. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2025, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-know-all-the-rocks-there-are/1018569/34 "2025-05-22T11:09:05Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > In the context of building space elevators and fusion reactors they aren’t. That specific context wouldn’t be what I’d call “generally speaking”, though. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2025, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-know-all-the-rocks-there-are/1018569/35 "2025-05-22T11:26:03Z")
Well that specific context is what this thread is about. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2025, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-know-all-the-rocks-there-are/1018569/36 "2025-05-22T11:32:11Z")
The OP asked a lot of different fairly open-ended questions, not just about exotic materials for space elevators and fusion reactors. And that _still_ wouldn’t be “generally speaking”. Just as an example, _in the context of the OP_, I find plastistone far more interesting than individual minerals, given what it says about the Anthropocene ---
**Author:** ![sb1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a87d85/32.png) [@sb1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sb1953)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2025, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-know-all-the-rocks-there-are/1018569/37 "2025-05-22T12:17:32Z")
I have always wanted to know what type of minerals are in the deeper areas of our own planet. I think that being a geologist who could drill down to those depths would be fascinated by the minerals that are subject to the kind of forces our gravity places the rocks under. From what I have read the issues is that the deeper we drill the more heat there is to deal with. Some new technology must be invented to deal with that. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2025, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-know-all-the-rocks-there-are/1018569/38 "2025-05-22T13:13:58Z")
This article deals with that. The Tablelands in Newfoundland are a chunk of the mantle that got pushed to the surface by plate tectonics. The composition of the rocks are different than rocks on the surface and actually hostile to life, so the Tablelands are largely barren. [https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.5280792](https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.5280792) ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2025, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-know-all-the-rocks-there-are/1018569/39 "2025-05-22T14:44:58Z")
Are glasses rocks? I am reading no, because no crystal structures, but yes obsidian is an igneous rock that is a glass. I have some vague recollection of exotic glass structures predicted but not yet observed? Would those count? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2025, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-know-all-the-rocks-there-are/1018569/40 "2025-05-22T14:51:28Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > Are glasses rocks? I am reading no, because no crystal structures, but yes obsidian is an igneous rock that is a glass. Rocks may consist of [mineraloids](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mineraloid) which aren’t crystalline. So amorphous substances like obsidian are also rocks. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-know-all-the-rocks-there-are/1018569.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-know-all-the-rocks-there-are/1018569.md?page=3)