This is a book about the petrology of kimberlites. It is not about upper mantle xenoliths, diamonds, or prospecting for kimberlites. The object of the book is to provide a comprehensive survey and critique of the advances which have been made in kimberlite studies over the last twenty-five years. Kimberlites are rare rock types; however, their relative obscurity is overriden by their economic and petrological importance to a degree which is not shared with the commoner varieties of igneous rocks. Kimberlites are consequently of interest to a diverse group of earth scientists, ranging from isotope g~ochemists concerned with the evolution of the mantle, to volcanologists pondering the origins of diatremes, to exploration geologists seeking new occurrences of the diamondiferous varieties. A common factor essential to all of these activities is a thorough understanding of the characteristics of kimberlites. For the petrologist, kimberlites are exciting and challenging objects for study. Their petrographic diversity, complex mineralogy and geochemistry, and unusual style of intrusion provide endless opportunities for stimulating hypothesis and conjecture concerning their origin and evolution. Kimberlites are a part of a wide spectrum of continental intra-cratonic magmatism. Only by understanding all of the parts of this activity in detail may we make progress in our understanding of the whole.

Developments in Petrology 11A, Volume A: Kimberlites I: Kimberlites and Related Rocks covers the proceedings of the Third International Kimberlite Conference, held in Clermont Ferrand, France in September 1982. Separating 75 papers into three parts and 28 chapters, this volume focuses on Western Australian lamproites and kimberlites. Significant chapters are also devoted to Alpine type ultramafic bodies. The occurrence, detection, geology, petrology, and synthesis of these precious rocks are discussed. Other general topics covered include diatremes, diamonds, and mantle sample.

This remarkable volume presents the first revision to the classification system of diamond-bearing rocks in over eighty years. Presenting the latest mineralogical data, this book offers a detailed description of the mineralogy and geochemistry of kimberlites, orangeites, and lamproites. Several hundred new analyses of minerals in orangeites are included. This volume follows the publication of Kimberlites, by R.H. Mitchell, and Petrology of Lamproites, by R.H. Mitchell and S.C. Bergman, concluding the trilogy.

This study documents alkaline rock occurrences in British Columbia; describes their petrography, geochemistry, economic geology, and field relationships; and determines the timing and tectonic controls of emplacement, providing a basis for future, detailed studies. Work was begun in 1984 and included field mapping during the summers of 1984, 1985, and 1986. All the carbonatite-syenite localities (with the exception of the Wicheeda Lake and Mount Bisson showings) and a large number of the diatreme breccias were mapped and sampled.

High-Pressure Research: Applications in Geophysics contains the papers presented during a U.S.-Japan joint seminar held in Honolulu, Hawaii, 6-9 July 1976. The seminar brought together scientists engaged in high pressure-high temperature research to exchange ideas on the latest state-of-the-art developments, their experimental results, and their latest interpretations with regard to the significance of these results to the geophysical sciences in general. Four formal sessions were held. Of the forty-two papers presented at the seminar, thirty-nine appear as contributed papers and three as abstracts in this volume. The papers in Session I examine the geophysics and geochemistry of the crust and upper mantle. The contributions in Session II focus on phase transitions related to Earth's deep interior. Session III is devoted equations of state and shock wave experiments while Session IV covers instrumentation, pressure calibration, and standardization.