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 surrounding molecular cloud. 60 new minerals were produced and were preserved as inclusions in chondrites. The accretion of dust into asteroids and planets, bombardments, heating and reactions with water raised the number to 250. Before 4.56 Ga, the presolar nebula was a dense molecular cloud consisting of hydrogen and helium gas with dispersed dust grains. When the Sun ignited and entered its T-Tauri phase, it melted nearby dust grains. Some of the melt droplets were incorporated into chondrites as small spherical objects called chondrules. Almost all chondrites also contain calcium–aluminium-rich inclusions (CAIs), the earliest materials formed in the Solar System.