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onyx

Banded variety of the mineral chalcedony

Instance of: mineral variety
Subclass of: chalcedony

Overview

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · Read full article · Text CC BY-SA 4.0

Onyx is a typically black-and-white banded variety of agate, a silicate mineral. The bands can also be monochromatic with alternating light and dark bands. Sardonyx is a variety with red to brown bands alternated with black or white bands. The name "onyx" is also frequently used for level-banded (parallel-banded) agates, but in proper usage it refers to color pattern not band structure. Onyx, as a descriptive term, has also been incorrectly applied to parallel-banded varieties of alabaster, marble, calcite, obsidian, and opal, and misleadingly to materials with contorted banding, such as "cave onyx" and "Mexican onyx".

Overview

All data

34 statements · 12% with external sources · numbers in brackets are citations

Crystal system: trigonal crystal system
Named after: nail applies to name of subject: ὄνυξ
Mohs' hardness: 7
Density: 2.659 g/cm³
Different from: Onyks
Formula: SiO₂

On other databases

27 identifiers linking onyx across the web's reference databases

Data quality

statements

12%

externally sourced

Source last edited July 24, 2026. AIDb refreshes this page daily.

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AIDb. (2026). onyx (Q180884). Retrieved from https://aidb.si/e/onyx-Q180884