Bowen's reaction series Choose one: a) has a continuous series with a progressive change from sodium-rich to calcium-rich amphibole. b) Ocreates a progressively more mafic melt as the magma cools. c) was established by laboratory experiments in the 1920s shows the sequence in which different sulfate minerals form during the progressive cooling of a melt.

The Bowen reaction series provides an insight to what happens to a crystallizing magma as it cools. There are two arms in the series, the continuous and the discontinuous series. The continuous series is made of the plagioclase feldspar. At high temperature, calcic plagioclase are crystallized out of the melt and at lower temperature, sodic plagioclase begins to from.

The discontinuous series consists of the trend through which other minerals are crystallized. At high temperature, olivine first forms and quartz is the last to crystallized out.

For a given melt, according to the Bowen's reaction series, the composition becomes more felsic at low temperatures. The silica content increases considerably.

The series is designed for silicate minerals found in nature and not sulfate minerals. The continuous series is for plagioclase feldspars not amphibole. Amphibole is in the discontinuous series.