Volume 9B of Reviews in Mineralogy is dedicated more to an exploration of the social life of
amphiboles and the amphibole personality in real rocks and in the experimental petrology
laboratory. The chemical complexity of amphibole which Robinson et al. refer to as a
mineralogical shark in a sea of unsuspecting elements permits amphiboles to occur in a very
wide variety of rock types under a large range of pressure and temperature conditions and in
association with an impressive number of other minerals. The description of amphibole petrology
and of petrologists' attempts to understand amphibole phase relations are therefore not simple
matters as the length of this volume suggests. Although they do not cover every type of
amphibole occurrence it is hoped that the papers in this volume will provide the amphibole
student and researcher with an up-to-date summary of the most important aspects of amphibole
petrology. Volume 9B Amphiboles: Petrology and Experimental Phase Relations was begun in 1981
in preparation for the Short Course on Amphiboles and Other Hydrous Pyriboles presented at
Erlanger Kentucky October 29 - November 1 1981 prior to the annual meetings of the
Geological Society of America and associated societies. Unfortunately only the first chapter
was in manuscript form at the time of the short course and publication was delayed by one
year.
