Railsback's Some Fundamentals of Mineralogy and Geochemistry

Bowen's Reaction Series IV: Toward a broader explanation

Part II of this series of pages on Bowen's Reaction Series Secondly, the leftmost squares drift to the left as one
provided a Si4+-centered explanation of Bowen's Reaction passes downward through the diagram from higher
Series. This page tries to explain Bowen's Reaction Series temperatures to lower temperatures.
in terms of all the cations involved. It draws heavily on Part III So what does that mean? The minerals high in
of this series, which looked at the melting temperatures of Bowen's Reaction Series - the minerals that form at higher
oxides to assess the importance of ionic potential in temperatures - are minerals that preferentially incorporate
determining the temperature of formation of minerals. cations of intermediate ionic potential like Mg2+. On the
The diagram below shows the compositions of minerals other hand, the minerals lower in Bowen's Reaction Series
that form in the crystallization of silicate melts. The different - those that form at lower temperatures - are minerals that
shades of blue correspond to the different branches of increasingly incorporate either cations of lower ionic
Bowen's Reaction Series. The sizes of the squares potential like Na+ and K+ and/or the cation of exceptionally
correspond to the relative abundance of the cations in each high ionic potential, Si4+. The cations of low ionic potential
mineral. form weak bonds to O2-, explaining their entry into
Graphically speaking, there are two things to note. First, minerals only at low temperatures, and cations of high
the large squares are in the middle of the diagram at its ionic potential have such focused positive charge that they
upper (high-temperature) end, but they drift to the right as repel each other when brought in close proximity, as they
one moves down through the diagram to lower temperatures. must be in a Si4+-rich mineral.

Minerals in igneous rocks:

Cation comprising more than half
Cation comprising less than half of
cation atoms in mineral's formula
of cation atoms in mineral's formula L Left side of Bowen's Reaction Series:
DiscontinuousSeries
Middle track of Bowen's Reaction Series:
M Spinels etc.
Average ionic Cation comprising half of the cation R Right side of Bowen's Reaction Series:
potential of mineral atoms in mineral's formula Continuous Series
Melting
temperatures Forsterite (Mg-olivine)
3000 of oxides
of hard
cations Chromite
Magnetite
Mleting temperature (°C) of oxides of hard cations

L
Anorthite (Ca-plagioclase)
2500

Very generalized order of igneous crystallization

M
Ilmenite R

Titanite (sphene)

2000 Augite

Zircon
Plagioclase: Ab50An50

1500 Hornblende
Dry

Biotite
R
1000 Albite (Na-plagioclase)

Muscovite
Wet

K-feldspar
500

Quartz
K+ Na+ Ca2+ Fe2+ Mg2+ Cr3+ Fe3+Zr4+ Ti4+ Al3+ Si4+
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Low ionic potential Intermediate ionic potential High ionic potential
(weak cation-O2- bonds) (Stable cation-O2- frameworks) (cation-cation repulsion)
Ionic potential (charge ÷ radius) of cations
LBR BowensRxnSeriesSFMG04 rev. 1/2007