Wait, why is this pattern upside down?

by Meaghan Wetherell

Bowen's reaction series is an order describing how minerals precipitate out of magma, with Mafic minerals like Olivine precipitating out at higher temperatures. So why does my pattern have the mafic minerals at the top? Let me explain!

mafic vs felsic vs mafic

So I did think about what order I should put the crystals in while I was designing the product, and for the most part I put mafic at the top. There are some products like the shoes that are neutral (they go from side to side), and the printable fabric had to have a repeating pattern so it goes from left to right as well. Some of you pointed out that magma rises up, so mafic minerals should be down at the bottom. I chose to put it at the top for three reasons:


1. It matches the order on most textbook diagrams, so you don't have to do a weird handstand to cross-compare

2. It looks nicer to have the darker colors near the face

3. When you're wearing a product that implies one half of your body is hotter than the other... I kind of figured that should be your face, not your crotch! Except that I stuck with the hot-crotch orientation for the skirt because of points 1 & 2.

bowen's reaction series from Wikipedia
Here's an example textbook diagram from Colivine - Own work, CC0

As for why I stuck with the discontinuous series and didn't include the sodium or calcium rich plagioclases... *cough* I'm very sorry to say this but they are kind of just ugly. Or at least, didn't seem to add anything to the pattern. 

Anyhow I'm excited to see the feedback and the debate! I will be making a few more items over the next few weeks including quite a few that can be rotated any which way you like, whether you like to replicate textbooks or magma or your own unique sideways orientation. 

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