What does fractional crystallization and bowens have in common?
Bowen’s reactions series describes the order in which minerals will crystalize out of a silicate melt as its temperature drops. It also tells us how the crystallization of these crystals will affect the composition of the remaining melt. This helps us to understand how factional crystallization can alter the composition of a magma by removing crystals from the magma before it has completely crystalized. Since, as Bowen’s shows us, the first crystals to form don’t reflect the overall composition of the magma, their removal from the melt prevents them from being able to continue to react with it, thus leaving the melt with a different composition that it started as.
