| Discontinuous Series (Mafic minerals) | Continuous Series (Felsic minerals) | High | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Olivine | Plagioclase (Calcium rich) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Pyroxene | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Amphibole | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Biotite (Black Mica) | Plagioclase (Sodium rich) | Relative Crystallization Temperature | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Orthoclase (K-feldspar) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Muscovite (White Mica) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Quartz (Felsic mineral) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Low | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Within the field of geology, Bowen's reaction series is the work of the Canadian petrologist Norman L. Bowen,[1] who summarized, based on experiments and observations of natural rocks, the sequence of crystallization of common silicate minerals from typical basaltic magma undergoing fractional crystallization (i.e. crystallization wherein early-formed crystals are removed from the magma by crystal settling, leaving behind a liquid of slightly different composition).[2][3] Bowen's reaction series is able to explain why certain types of minerals tend to be found together while others are almost never associated with one another. He experimented in the early 1900s with powdered rock material that was heated until it melted and then allowed to cool to a target temperature whereupon he observed the types of minerals that formed in the rocks produced. He repeated this process with progressively cooler temperatures and the results he obtained led him to formulate his reaction series which is still accepted today as the idealized progression of minerals produced by cooling basaltic magma that undergoes fractional crystallization. Based upon Bowen's work, one can infer from the minerals present in a rock the relative conditions under which the material had formed.[4]