Major and trace element concentrations, together with limited mineral and isotopic compositions, have been determined in 17 subaerial basalt samples recovered from the three Kudu wells (K9A1, K9A2 and K9A3) approximately 180 km west of Oranjemund. The primary purpose of this study is to characterise these basalts and their compositional variations, and to attempt to elucidate their oceanic or continental origin and tectonic setting. Full details of the stratigraphy of the boreholes are presented elsewhere in this volume by Wickens and McLachlan (1990), but it should be noted at the onset that the samples analysed are interbedded with what are considered to be dominantly aeolian sand-stones of Barremian age which are presumed to be associated with the initial rifting of the South Atlantic.