NHRE 2024: Imaging Magnetofossils in Situ

Earth houses millions of unique organisms; some you can see with the naked eye and some you can not, but they are there. Magnetofossils are invisible without microscopes, but they had an impact on their environment when they were alive. Magnetofossils create magnetic minerals within their bodies like iron which has traits, like being atomicly heavy and magnetic. Only magnetofossils have these traits because of the type of iron they make! This makes it easier to find them and learn from their magnetic signal as well as take pictures of the creatures. Studying magnetofossils can help researchers understand Earth’s climate cycles, past ocean environments, and magnetics as the Earth changes.