Jasper Jasper Jasper, an aggregate of microgranular quartz and/or chalcedony and other mineral phases, is an opaque, impure variety of silica, usually red, yellow, brown or green in color; and rarely blue. The common red color is due to iron(III) inclusions. The mineral aggregate breaks with a smooth surface and is used for ornamentation or as a gemstone. It can be highly polished and is used for items such as vases, seals, and snuff boxes. The specific gravity of jasper is typically 2.5 to 2.9. A green variety with red spots, known as heliotrope (bloodstone), is one of the traditional birthstones
Mineral evolution in this stage is mineral inclusions in zircon crystals, which date back as far as 4.4 Ga. Among the minerals in the inclusions are quartz, muscovite, biotite, potassium feldspar, albite, chlorite and hornblende. In a volatile-poor body such as Mercury and the Moon, the above processes give rise to about 350 mineral species. Water and other volatiles, if present, increase the total. Earth was volatile-rich, with an atmosphere composed of N, CO and water, and an ocean that became steadily more saline. Volcanism, outgassing and hydration gave rise to hydroxides, hydrates, carbonates and evaporites. For Earth, where this stage coincides