| Preface | p. xi |
| Background information - description of the field characteristics, mineralogy and geochemistry of komatiites | p. 1 |
| A brief history of komatiite studies and a discussion of komatiite nomenclature | p. 3 |
| The discovery and early investigations of komatiite | p. 3 |
| More recent studies | p. 9 |
| Nomenclature | p. 10 |
| Komatiite lithofacies | p. 13 |
| Conclusion | p. 15 |
| Brief descriptions of six classic komatiite occurrences | p. 16 |
| Introduction | p. 16 |
| Komatiites in the Barberton greenstone belt | p. 16 |
| Komatiites in the Abitibi greenstone belt | p. 27 |
| Ore-bearing komatiites at Kambalda | p. 33 |
| Komatiitic basalts on Gilmour Island | p. 40 |
| Karasjok-type Fe-Ti-rich komatiites and picrites in Fennoscandia | p. 42 |
| Komatiites and picrites from Gorgona Island | p. 46 |
| Field characteristics, textures and structures | p. 53 |
| Introduction | p. 53 |
| Types of komatiite flows | p. 55 |
| Dimensions of komatiite flows | p. 57 |
| Spinifex texture | p. 61 |
| Textural variations in layered komatiite flows | p. 67 |
| Komatiite flows without spinifex textures | p. 79 |
| Flows with thin spinifex layers | p. 80 |
| Thick dunitic units | p. 84 |
| Pillowed komatiites | p. 87 |
| Volcaniclastic komatiites | p. 88 |
| Komatiitic basalts | p. 92 |
| Intrusive komatiites | p. 96 |
| Mineralogy | p. 98 |
| Introduction | p. 98 |
| Primary minerals | p. 99 |
| Secondary minerals | p. 127 |
| Summary | p. 129 |
| Geochemistry | p. 130 |
| Introduction | p. 130 |
| Olivine fractionation in komatiites | p. 131 |
| Mobile and immobile elements: the olivine control line criterion | p. 131 |
| Mobility of Mg | p. 141 |
| Other approaches used to demonstrate element mobility | p. 143 |
| Other types of mobile element behaviour | p. 148 |
| Igneous chemistry of komatiites | p. 149 |
| Igneous chemistry of komatiitic basalts | p. 160 |
| Isotopic compositions of komatiites | p. 167 |
| Introduction | p. 167 |
| The Rb-Sr system | p. 167 |
| The Sm-Nd system | p. 171 |
| U-Pb and Pb-Pb methods | p. 182 |
| The Re-Os system | p. 185 |
| The Lu-Hf system | p. 188 |
| Helium isotopes | p. 192 |
| Stable isotopes | p. 194 |
| Conclusions emerging from the isotopic compositions of komatiites | p. 200 |
| Experimental petrology | p. 202 |
| Introduction | p. 202 |
| Experiments at 1 atm pressure | p. 202 |
| Partition coefficients from experimental studies | p. 213 |
| Experiments at moderate pressures (1-4 GPa) | p. 217 |
| High-pressure experiments on komatiites | p. 218 |
| Trace-element partitioning at high pressures | p. 226 |
| Dynamic cooling experiments | p. 227 |
| Huppert and Sparks' experiments | p. 229 |
| Summary and implications for komatiite petrogenesis | p. 230 |
| Interpretation - the manner of emplacement, the origin and the tectonic setting of komatiites | p. 233 |
| Physical properties of komatiites | p. 235 |
| Introduction | p. 235 |
| Temperature | p. 236 |
| Crystallization interval | p. 238 |
| Viscosity | p. 238 |
| Density | p. 241 |
| Other thermal properties | p. 242 |
| Physical volcanology (by S.J. Barnes and C.M. Lesher) | p. 243 |
| Introduction | p. 243 |
| Nomenclature and terminology | p. 244 |
| Komatiite facies | p. 245 |
| Komatiite flows and flow fields: size, structure and emplacement processes | p. 250 |
| Crystallization of komatiite liquids and the origin of distinctive komatiite textures | p. 265 |
| Models for the emplacement and solidification of komatiite flows | p. 277 |
| What did komatiite volcanoes look like? | p. 288 |
| Concluding comments | p. 294 |
| Komatiite-associated Ni-Cu-PGE deposits (by C.M. Lesher and S.J. Barnes) | p. 295 |
| Introduction | p. 295 |
| General characteristics | p. 296 |
| Type I deposits | p. 299 |
| Type II deposits | p. 314 |
| Type V deposits | p. 317 |
| Compositions of komatiite-hosted sulfide ores | p. 320 |
| Origin of komatiite-associated ores | p. 323 |
| Exploration guidelines | p. 326 |
| The hydrous komatiite hypothesis | p. 328 |
| Introduction | p. 328 |
| Development of the hypothesis | p. 329 |
| Extrusive Barberton komatiites: papers by J. Dann published in 2000 and 2001 | p. 339 |
| Elaboration of the subduction zone model: papers by Parman et al. and Grove and Parman published between 2001 and 2004 | p. 340 |
| Other papers discussing the hydrous komatiite model | p. 344 |
| A critical evaluation of the hydrous komatiite model | p. 349 |
| Compositions and eruption temperatures of komatiitic liquids | p. 352 |
| Introduction | p. 352 |
| Methods used to estimate liquid compositions | p. 352 |
| Petrogenesis of komatiite | p. 363 |
| Nature of the komatiite source | p. 363 |
| What does it take to make an ultramafic magma? | p. 365 |
| Conditions of melting | p. 368 |
| The formation of various types of komatiite | p. 373 |
| The formation of komatiitic and tholeiitic basalts | p. 386 |
| Summary | p. 388 |
| Geodynamic setting | p. 390 |
| Introduction | p. 390 |
| The geodynamic setting of Archean greenstone belts | p. 405 |
| A mantle plume does not know what it will meet at the surface | p. 407 |
| Passage through the lithosphere | p. 409 |
| The setting of komatiitic volcanism | p. 411 |
| Conclusions | p. 413 |
| References | p. 415 |
| General index | p. 459 |
| Localities | p. 466 |
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