Rhodochrosite is a manganese carbonate mineral with chemical composition MnCO3. In its (rare) pure form, it is typically a rose-red color, but impure specimens can be shades of pink to pale brown. It streaks white, and its Mohs hardness varies between 3.5 and 4. Its specific gravity is between 3.5 and 3.7. It crystallizes in the trigonal system, and cleaves with rhombohedral carbonate cleavage in three directions.

A lunar eclipse appears behind a gargoyle atop the old red Dallas County Courthouse early Wednesday morning, October 8, 2014. The moon appears orange or red, the result of sunlight scattering off Earth's atmosphere. This is known as the blood moon. (Photo by Tom Fox/AP Photo/The Dallas Morning News)

“Winter Climbing from inside Ben Nevis”. The view from inside the mountain, as a winter climber passes through the cave on Minus Three gully. Photo location: Ben Nevis, Fort William, Scotland. (Photo and caption by Daniel Wildey/National Geographic Photo Contest)

Hounds of The Cheshire Forest Hunt push their snouts through the bars of their kennels as they eagerly await their morning walk in preparation for the start of the new hunting season, in Knutsford, England, on Oktober 31, 2013. The hunting season traditionally starts around November 1st. Although a ban on hunting has been in force since February 2005, many supporters of fox hunting are continuing to call for a repeal of the ban, saying the current law is hard to interpret and enforce. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

Madagascan sunset setting over the 98-foot-tall baobab trees of the Avenue of the Baobabs located in Menabe, Madagascar on August 2020. (Photo by Kim Paffen/MediaDrumImages)

Firefighters pull a pig as they try to rescue it from a well at a pig farm in Huanghua township of Leqing, Zhejiang province, China, April 25, 2014. Seven local firefighters successfully rescued the 300 kg (661 lbs) pig, local media reported. (Photo by Reuters/China Daily)

Tourists are watching the sunrise from a viewing platform on the Three Gorges Dam in Yichang, China, on June 23, 2024. (Photo by Costfoto/NurPhoto/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

People are cooling off at a water park in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu province, on July 8, 2023. (Photo by Costfoto/NurPhoto/Rex Features/Shutterstock)