The Mantle Sample: Inclusions in Kimberlites and Other Volcanics

Published by the American Geophysical Union as part of the Special Publications Series.

A dedicated student of xenoliths once remarked (privately) that when confronted by a bus full of people, what interested him was the people and not the bus. This is a book about the people, not the bus. Those who (rightfully) turn on to the genesis and mineralogic complexities of kimberlites, the mechanisms of diatreme for- mation, and the parageneses of diamond will find much to excite them in Volume I of these Proceedings—Kimberlites, Diatremes and Diamonds. Volume I is primarily a book about the bus.

Papers contained in these volumes were presented at the Second International Kimberlite Conference, held in Santa Fe, New Mexico, October 3-7, 1977. An aim of this Conference was "to provide an opportunity for rationalization of mantle models developed through study of kimberlite xenoliths, basalt xenoliths and through geophysical methods." In field trips associated with the Conference, participants had an opportunity to visit kimberlites in Arkansas, the Colorado Front Range and the Colorado Plateau, together with spectacular basalt nodule localities at Kilbourne Hole, San Carlos and Chino Valley. These trips, in particular, provided marvelous opportunities for communication and discussion between participants of diverse backgrounds and specialties. It is hoped that this communication will have an important impact on progress in mantle petrology and kimberlite-oriented research, but the needed rationalization of mantle models has yet to come. Major problems remain; some have been around for a long time, while the existence of some is only recently appreciated.