Volume 9B of Reviews in Mineralogy is dedicated more to an exploration of the social life of amphiboles and the amphibole personality in real rocks and in the experimental petrology laboratory. The chemical complexity of amphibole, which Robinson et al., refer to as "a mineralogical shark in a sea of unsuspecting elements," permits amphiboles to occur in a very wide variety of rock types, under a large range of pressure and temperature conditions, and in association with an impressive number of other minerals. The description of amphibole petrology and of petrologists' attempts to understand amphibole phase relations are therefore not simple matters, as the length of this volume suggests. Although they do not cover every type of amphibole occurrence, it is hoped that the papers in this volume will provide the amphibole student and researcher with an up-to-date summary of the most important aspects of amphibole petrology. Volume 9B, Amphiboles: Petrology and Experimental Phase Relations, was begun in 1981 in preparation for the Short Course on Amphiboles and Other Hydrous Pyriboles presented at Erlanger, Kentucky, October 29 - November 1, 1981, prior to the annual meetings of the Geological Society of America and associated societies. Unfortunately, only the first chapter was in manuscript form at the time of the short course, and publication was delayed by one year.

Volume 67 of Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry covers the Crystal Chemistry, Occurrence, and Health Issues of Amphiboles. Contents: Amphiboles: Crystal Chemistry Classification of the Amphiboles New Amphibole Compositions: Natural and Synthetic Long-Range Order in Amphiboles Short-Range Order in Amphiboles Non-Ambient in situ Studies of Amphiboles The Synthesis and Stability of Some End-Member Amphiboles The Significance of the Reaction Path in Synthesizing Single-Phase Amphibole of Defined Composition Amphiboles in the Igneous Environment Metamorphic Amphiboles: Composition and Coexistence Trace-Element Partitioning Between Amphibole and Silicate Melt Amphiboles: Environmental and Health Concerns Amphiboles: Historical Perspective

Most of Volume 9A of Reviews in Mineralogy treats amphiboles and other hydrous pyriboles as isolated systems. It reviews the structural complexity and resulting chemical variability and diversity of petrologic behavior of amphiboles, whereby Volume 9A contains a hefty dose of petrology and in contrast, Volume 9B is dedicated more to an exploration of the social life of amphiboles and the amphibole personality in real rocks and in the experimental petrology laboratory. This volume was prepared in conjunction with the Mineralogical Society of America Short Course on Amphiboles and Other Hydrous Pyriboles, Fall, 1981.

Looking mainly at the amphiboles, this volume has added sections on deerite, howieite and multiple-chain silicates (biopyriboles). This edition includes results of recent research into amphiboles. Each chapter is headed by a brief tabulation of mineral data and a sketch showing optical orientation. Diagrams of the crystal structures are presented and followed by discussion of the structural features, making use of data from spectroscopic and diffraction experiments. The chemical sections include over 550 analyses from which structural formulae have been calculated, illustrating the range of chemical and paragenetic variation exhibited by each mineral. There are results of P-T experiments, thermochemical and computer modelling techniques. The principal modes of occurrence are described in the paragenesis sections emphasizing correlations with chemistry.