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kimberlite

A Dictionary of Earth Sciences | 1999 | | Copyright

kimberlite A brecciated (see BRECCIA), potassic, ultrabasic igneous rock, consisting of megacrysts of olivine, enstatite, Cr-rich diopside, phlogopite, pyropealmandine garnet, and Mg-rich ilmenite, in a fine-grained groundmass of serpentine, phlogopite, carbonates, perovskite, and chlorite, in varying proportions. Kimberlites contain abundant xenoliths derived from the mantle and, as such, they are extremely useful for investigating mantle mineralogy and chemistry. Many of the mantle-derived xenoliths have been brought up from such great depth that they contain high-pressure minerals, the best known being diamond, the high-pressure form of carbon. Many of the megacrysts of enstatite, Cr-diopside and garnet are likewise thought to be derived from the upper mantle through which the kimberlite ascended, and as such should be termed ‘xenocrysts’. Near the surface, kimberlite is found in clusters of pipe-like bodies called diatremes. Mine workings show that they coalesce at depth and link up with dykes of non-fragmental kimberlite.

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AILSA ALLABY and MICHAEL ALLABY. "kimberlite." A Dictionary of Earth Sciences. 1999. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

AILSA ALLABY and MICHAEL ALLABY. "kimberlite." A Dictionary of Earth Sciences. 1999. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O13-kimberlite.html

AILSA ALLABY and MICHAEL ALLABY. "kimberlite." A Dictionary of Earth Sciences. 1999. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O13-kimberlite.html

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kimberlite

The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English | 2009 | Copyright

kim·ber·lite / ˈkimbərˌlīt/ • n. Geol. a rare, blue-tinged, coarse-grained intrusive igneous rock sometimes containing diamonds, found esp. in South Africa and Siberia. Also called blue ground.

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"kimberlite." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-kimberlite.html

"kimberlite." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-kimberlite.html

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kimberlite

The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. | 2011 | Copyright

kimberlite see diamond .

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"kimberlite." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-X-kimberli.html

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Free newspaper and magazine articles

	Kimberlite-sourced bentonite, its paleoenvironment and implications for the... Magazine article from: Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences; 5/1/2008
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