Modified Bowen's Reaction Series

Modified Bowen's Reaction Series and other geologic associations.

Below is a version of Bowen's reaction series, which is very useful for understanding mineral associations and crustal evolution. A given melt that crystallizes into a rock does not follow the entire series. It starts out somewhere in the continuum and then typically goes through 3-4 mineral in the discontinuous series before it becomes totally crystallized. In other words a gabbro melt would typically start out with olivine and end up with hornblende.

Some questions to consider in order to gain more insight into Bowen's Reaction Series.

In the discontinuous series, consider how the number of oxygen shared by the silicate mineral changes as your progress through the reaction series?
If you were to melt a source rock, which minerals might melt first?
In a very general sense, which minerals might you expect to weather at the earth's surface more easily?

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