December 2022 – Magnetite

These pretty magnetite crystals sit as if scattered in their parent rock. The name of the mineral already reveals its special property, because this mineral is magnetic. When magnetite forms in a rock, for example in cooling lava, its magnetisation aligns with the earth’s magnetic field. In this way, it preserves the direction of the Earth’s magnetic field in rocks from the past, which is why we know that the direction of the magnetic field has often been reversed in the history of the Earth.

Fe₃O₄

Fundort: Pfitscher Joch, Zillertaler Alpen, Österreich

Gewicht: 54 g