Bowen’s Reaction Series
Sire Kassama
2014
Intro to Info
• Mafic: Iron and Magnesium rich; dark colored;
gabbro; basalt
• Felsic (or sialic): rich in Aluminum and Silicon
Dioxide; light colored; granite; rhyolite; has
minerals such as quartz and KAlSi3O8
(Potassium Feldspar)
• Intermediate: light and dark minerals; diorite;
andesite
• Felsic to Intermediate rocks and minerals are
more viscous which cause gas to be trapped
Bowen’s Reaction Serires:
• Olivine is the first mineral to crystallize from the very
high temperatures as magma first starts to cool.
• Quartz is the last mineral to form from the last
remaining melt of high silica content.
• Bowen’s reaction series indicates that minerals with the
highest melting temperatures crystallize from a cooling
magma before those with lower melting points.
• Bowen’s reaction series does not explain the origin of
magmas.
• Bowen’s reaction series indicates that ferromagnesian
minerals in magma crystallize in the sequence shown in
the discontinuous branch.
Need To Know
• Bowen’s reaction series offers an explanation for the
differentiation of silicic and mafic minerals in magma.
• Biotite is the most stable of minerals in the discontinuous
reaction series.
• Ionic bonding occurs at the highest temperatures within the
discontinuous branch
• The discontinuous reaction series follows a repetitive
sequence of stable to unstable pattern not permitting
simultaneous formation of similar minerals
• The continuous reaction series follows a gradual transitional
pattern of mineral formation thus permitting combinations of
minerals to form and exist as the magma cools.
Need To Know
• Which list the sequence of ferromagnesian
silicate minerals crystallizing from a cooling
magma?
olivine, pyroxene, amphibole, biotite
• Basalt is most likely to contain calcium-rich
feldspar.
• Bowen’s Reaction Series illustrates the
relationship between: chemical composition,
temperature and mineral structure
• Compared to felsic igneous rocks, mafic igneous
rocks contain greater amounts of
1. white quartz
2. aluminum
3. pink feldspar
4. iron
• Of the following paired minerals, which are
characteristic of lower crystallization
temperatures and absent in basalt and gabbro?
a. pyroxene and olivine c. biotite and olivine
b. quartz and pyroxene d. quartz and
muscovite
Bowen’s Reaction Series Chart
Other Resources
• The following questions and answers are from
the New York State Regents Website:
http://www.regentsprep.org/Regents/core/ques
tions/topics.cfm?Course=ESCI
• Geology.com