Kimberlites: Mineralogy, Geochemistry, and PetrologyThis 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. |
Contents
| 1 | |
| 9 | |
Kimberlite Magmatism and Textural Genetic Classifications of Kimberlite | 29 |
Diatremes and Root Zones | 73 |
Their Tectonic Setting | 105 |
Mineralogy of Kimberlites | 137 |
Geochemistry of Kimberlites | 275 |
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Common terms and phrases
Africa alkaline alnöites apatite assemblages basalts Benfontein berlites breccias calcite carbonate carbonatites chlorite clasts Clement commonly composition contain contents country rock Cr-poor Cr-rich crystals Dawson depth diamond diatreme diatreme facies dikes diopside dolomite eclogite Eggler emplacement enriched euhedral facies kimberlites Figure fluidization formation fractures garnet lherzolite Geol groundmass Gurney Haggerty hydrovolcanic hypabyssal kimberlites hypothesis ilmenite Ilupin inclusions intergrowths intrusion isotopic kbar Kimberley kimberlite fields kimberlite magma kimberlites lamproites lapilli lherzolite liquids macrocrysts magma magnesian magnetite mantle-derived megacryst suite megacrysts melilite melilitite metasomatized micaceous kimberlites micas mineralogy minerals Mitchell 1979a monticellite Nixon occur olivine orthopyroxene partial melting Pasteris peridotite perovskite petrographic Peuyuk phase phenocrysts phlogopite pipes pressures province pyrope pyroxenes range ratios root zone rutile Scott Smith Section segregations serpentine sills similar SiO2 Skinner solidus spinels studies temperatures textures TiO2 trend tuff tuffisitic Tunraq upper mantle vapor volcanic Wesselton Wyllie xenocrysts xenoliths Yakutian