kimberlite

American  

[kim-ber-lahyt] / ˈkɪm bərˌlaɪt /

noun

1. Petrology. a variety of micaceous peridotite, low in silica content and high in magnesium content, in which diamonds are formed.

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kimberlite British  

/ ˈkɪmbəˌlaɪt /

noun

1. an intrusive igneous rock generated at great depth in the earth's mantle and consisting largely of olivine and phlogopite. It often contains diamonds

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kimberlite Scientific  

/ kĭm′bər-līt′ /

1. A type of peridotite consisting of a fine-grained matrix of calcite and olivine and containing phenocrysts of olivine, garnet, and sometimes diamonds. Kimberlites are found in long, vertical volcanic pipes, especially in South Africa.

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Etymology

Origin of kimberlite

1885–90; named after Kimberley, South Africa; see -ite ¹

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

kimberlite

The researchers tested this in the lab, introducing kimberlite to soil microbes and watching how they changed in number and species.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 24, 2023

In future, exploration teams could build up a database of indicator species and test an unknown site to find out if kimberlite deposits are buried beneath the soil.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 24, 2023

Interestingly, these kimberlite eruptions seemed to start at the edges of the rifts and then marched steadily toward the center of the land masses.

From Scientific American ● Aug. 21, 2023

That makes it difficult to pin down kimberlite eruptions’ cause, especially because no one has witnessed one of the furious blasts.

From New York Times ● Jul. 26, 2023

Lots of carbon comes up with kimberlite ejecta, but most is vaporized or turns to graphite.

From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson