Bowen's reaction series: Difference between revisions

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]

Description

Olivine weathering to iddingsite within a mantle xenolith, demonstrating the principles of the Goldich dissolution series

The series is divided into two branches, the continuous (felsic minerals: feldspars) and the discontinuous (mafic minerals). The minerals at the top of the illustration (given aside) are first to crystallize and so the temperature gradient can be read to be from high to low with the high-temperature minerals being on the top and the low-temperature ones on the bottom. The branch on the right of the illustration is the continuous one (with continuous solid solutions of felsic minerals) and results in progressively sodium-rich plagioclase at lowering temperatures. In the discontinuous series mafic minerals such as olivine will first crystallize at a higher temperature, as magma cools. However, if they are not precipitated (settled) out, the composition of the magma does not change and as the magma further cools the olivine will recrystallise as pyroxene.

Since the surface of the Earth is a low temperature environment compared to the zones of rock formation, the chart also reflects the relative stability of minerals, with the ones at bottom being most stable and the ones at top being quickest to weather, known as the Goldich dissolution series. This is because minerals are most stable in the temperature and pressure conditions closest to those under which they had formed.

References

^ Tilley, C. E. (1957). "Norman Levi Bowen 1887-1956". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 3: 6–26. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1957.0002. JSTOR 769349. S2CID 73262622.
^ Bowen, N.L. (1956). The Evolution of the Igneous Rocks. Canada: Dover. pp. 60–62.
^ Bowen, N. L. (1922). "The Reaction Principle in Petrogenesis". The Journal of Geology. 30 (3): 177–198. doi:10.1086/622871.
^ Klein, Cornelis and Cornelius S. Hurlbut, Jr., Manual of Mineralogy, Wiley, 20th ed. 1985, p. 476 ISBN 0-471-80580-7

External links

Bowen's Reaction Series

[bowen-1] Tilley, C. E. (1957). "Norman Levi Bowen 1887-1956". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 3: 6–26. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1957.0002. JSTOR 769349. S2CID 73262622.

[2] Bowen, N.L. (1956). The Evolution of the Igneous Rocks. Canada: Dover. pp. 60–62.

[3] Bowen, N. L. (1922). "The Reaction Principle in Petrogenesis". The Journal of Geology. 30 (3): 177–198. doi:10.1086/622871.

[4] Klein, Cornelis and Cornelius S. Hurlbut, Jr., Manual of Mineralogy, Wiley, 20th ed. 1985, p. 476 ISBN 0-471-80580-7

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+{{short description|Order of crystallization of minerals in magma}}
-{{familytree/start | style=float: right;}}
+{{tree chart/start | style=float: right;}}
-{{familytree| |ds|ds='''Discontinuous<br/>Series'''| |cs|cs='''Continuous<br/>Series'''| |tmph|tmph=High|boxstyle=border-width: 0 0 2px 0;}}
+{{tree chart| |ds|ds='''Discontinuous<br/>Series'''<br/>([[Mafic|Mafic minerals]])| |cs|cs='''Continuous<br/>Series'''<br/>([[Felsic|Felsic minerals]])| |tmph|tmph=High|boxstyle=border-width: 0 0 2px 0;}}
-{{familytree| | | | | | | | | |:}}
-{{familytree| |ol| |cp| |ol=[[Olivine]]|cp=[[Plagioclase]]<br/>([[Calcium]] rich) |:}}
+{{tree chart| | | | | | | | | |:}}
+{{tree chart| |ol| |cp| |ol=[[Olivine]]|cp=[[Plagioclase]]<br/>([[Calcium]] rich) |:}}
-{{familytree| | |!| | | |!| | |:}}
+{{tree chart| | |!| | | |!| | |:}}
-{{familytree| |py| | |!| |py=[[Pyroxene]] | |:}}
+{{tree chart| |py| | |!| |py=[[Pyroxene]] | |:}}
-{{familytree| | |!| | | |!| | |:}}
+{{tree chart| | |!| | | |!| | |:}}
-{{familytree| |am| | |!| |am=[[Amphibole]] | |:}}
+{{tree chart| |am| | |!| |am=[[Amphibole]] | |:}}
-{{familytree| | |!| | | |!| | |:}}
+{{tree chart| | |!| | | |!| | |:}}
-{{familytree| |bi| |np| |bi=[[Biotite]]<br/>(Black [[Mica]])|np=[[Plagioclase]]<br/>([[Sodium]] rich) |cr|cr=Relative<br/>[[Crystallization]]<br/>Temperature|boxstyle_cr=border:0;}}
+{{tree chart| |bi| |pl| |bi=[[Biotite]]<br/>(Black [[Mica]])|pl=[[Plagioclase]]<br/>([[Sodium]] rich) |cr|cr=Relative<br/>[[Crystallization]]<br/>Temperature|boxstyle_cr=border:0;}}
-{{familytree| | |`|-|v|-|'| | |:}}
+{{tree chart| | |`|-|v|-|'| | |:}}
-{{familytree| | | |or| |or=[[Orthoclase]] | | |:}}
+{{tree chart| | | |or| |or=[[Orthoclase]]<br/>([[K-feldspar]]) | | |:}}
-{{familytree| | | | |!| | | | |:}}
+{{tree chart| | | | |!| | | | |:}}
-{{familytree| | | |mu| |mu=[[Muscovite]]<br/>(White [[Mica]]) | | |:}}
+{{tree chart| | | |mu| |mu=[[Muscovite]]<br/>(White [[Mica]]) | | |:}}
-{{familytree| | | | |!| | | | |:}}
+{{tree chart| | | | |!| | | | |:}}
-{{familytree| | | |qu| |qu=[[Quartz]] | | |:}}
+{{tree chart| | | |qu| |qu=[[Quartz]]<br/>([[Felsic|Felsic mineral]]) | | |:}}
-{{familytree| | | | | | | | | |tmpl|tmpl=Low|boxstyle=border-width: 2px 0 0 0;}}
+{{tree chart| | | | | | | | | |tmpl|tmpl=Low|boxstyle=border-width: 2px 0 0 0;}}
-{{familytree/end}}
+{{tree chart/end}}
-Within the field of [[geology]], '''Bowen's reaction series''' is the work of the [[petrologist]], [[Norman L. Bowen]]<ref name="bowen">{{Cite journal | last1 = Tilley | first1 = C. E. | authorlink1 = Cecil Edgar Tilley| doi = 10.1098/rsbm.1957.0002 | title = [[Norman L. Bowen|Norman Levi Bowen]] 1887-1956 | journal = Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society | volume = 3 | pages = 6–26 | year = 1957 | jstor = 769349| pmid =  | pmc = }}</ref> who summarized, based on experiments and observations of natural rocks, the crystallization sequence of typical basaltic magma undergoing fractional crystallization (i.e., crystallization wherein early-formed crystals are removed from the magma by crystal settling, say, leaving behind a liquid of slightly different composition)<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Evolution of the Igneous Rocks|last=Bowen|first=N.L.|publisher=Dover|year=1956|location=Canada|pages=60-62}}</ref>. Bowen's reaction series is able to explain why certain types of [[mineral]]s 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.<ref>Klein, Cornelis and Cornelius S. Hurlbut, Jr., ''Manual of Mineralogy,'' Wiley, 20th ed. 1985, p. 476 ISBN 0-471-80580-7</ref>
+Within the field of [[geology]], '''Bowen's reaction series''' is the work of the Canadian [[petrologist]] [[Norman L. Bowen]],<ref name="bowen">{{Cite journal | last1 = Tilley | first1 = C. E. | author-link1 = Cecil Edgar Tilley| doi = 10.1098/rsbm.1957.0002 | title = [[Norman L. Bowen|Norman Levi Bowen]] 1887-1956 | journal = Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society | volume = 3 | pages = 6–26 | year = 1957 | jstor = 769349| s2cid = 73262622 }}</ref> who summarized, based on experiments and observations of natural rocks, the sequence of crystallization of common silicate minerals from typical [[Basalt|basaltic]] [[magma]] undergoing [[fractional crystallization (geology)|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).<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Evolution of the Igneous Rocks|last=Bowen|first=N.L.|publisher=Dover|year=1956|location=Canada|pages=60–62}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Bowen | first1 = N. L. | doi = 10.1086/622871 | title = The Reaction Principle in Petrogenesis | journal = The Journal of Geology | volume = 30 | issue = 3 | pages = 177-198| year = 1922}}</ref> Bowen's reaction series is able to explain why certain types of [[mineral]]s 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.<ref>Klein, Cornelis and Cornelius S. Hurlbut, Jr., ''Manual of Mineralogy,'' Wiley, 20th ed. 1985, p. 476 {{ISBN|0-471-80580-7}}</ref>
 ==Description==
-[[File:Iddingsite.JPG|thumb|left|[[Olivine]] [[weathering]] to [[iddingsite]] within a [[Mantle (geology)|mantle]] [[xenolith]], demonstrating the principles of the [[Goldich dissolution series]]]] [[File:Bowen's Reaction Series.png|thumb|Bowen's Reaction Series]]
+[[File:Iddingsite.JPG|thumb|left|[[Olivine]] [[weathering]] to [[iddingsite]] within a [[Mantle (geology)|mantle]] [[xenolith]], demonstrating the principles of the [[Goldich dissolution series]]]] [[File:Bowen's Reaction Series.png|thumb|upright=1.6|Bowen's reaction series]]
+{{Clear}}
-The series is broken into two branches, the continuous and the discontinuous. The branch on the right is the continuous. The minerals at the top of the illustration (given aside) are first to crystallize and so the temperature gradient can be read to be from high to low with the high temperature minerals being on the top and the low temperature ones on the bottom. Since the surface of the Earth is a low temperature environment compared to the zones of rock formation, the chart also easily shows the stability of minerals with the ones at bottom being most stable and the ones at top being quickest to weather, known as the [[Goldich dissolution series]]. This is because minerals are most stable in the conditions closest to those under which they had formed. Put simply, the high temperature minerals, the first ones to crystallize in a mass of magma, are most unstable at the Earth's surface and quickest to weather because the surface is most different from the conditions under which they were created.  On the other hand, the low temperature minerals are much more stable because the conditions at the surface are much more similar to the conditions under which they formed.
+The series is divided into two branches, the continuous ([[felsic]] minerals: [[feldspar]]s) and the discontinuous ([[mafic]] minerals). The minerals at the top of the illustration (given aside) are first to crystallize and so the [[temperature gradient]] can be read to be from high to low with the high-temperature minerals being on the top and the low-temperature ones on the bottom. The branch on the right of the illustration is the continuous one (with continuous [[solid solution]]s of felsic minerals) and results in progressively sodium-rich [[plagioclase]] at lowering temperatures. In the discontinuous series mafic minerals such as [[olivine]] will first  crystallize at a higher temperature, as magma cools. However, if they are not precipitated (settled) out, the composition of the magma does not change and as the magma further cools the olivine will recrystallise as [[pyroxene]].
+Since the surface of the Earth is a low temperature environment compared to the zones of rock formation, the chart also reflects the relative stability of minerals, with the ones at bottom being most stable and the ones at top being quickest to weather, known as the [[Goldich dissolution series]]. This is because minerals are most stable in the temperature and pressure conditions closest to those under which they had formed.
 ==References==