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Paleobiological Applications of Focused Ion Beam Electron Microscopy (FIB-EM): An Ultrastructural Approach to the (Micro)Fossil Record

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Book cover Quantifying the Evolution of Early Life

Part of the book series: Topics in Geobiology ((TGBI,volume 36))

Abstract

Coupled dual-beam focused ion beam electron microscopy (FIB-EM) has gained popularity across multiple disciplines over the past decade. Widely utilized as a stand-alone instrument for micromachining and metal- or insulator-deposition in numerous industries, the sub-μm-scale ion milling and integrated electron imaging capabilities of such FIB-based systems are well documented in the materials science literature. These capacities make FIB-EM a powerful tool for in-situ site-specific preparation of ultrathin foils for transmission electron microscopy. Recent advancements in the field-emission guns of FIB-EM systems have ­provided spatial resolution comparable to that of many high-grade scanning ­electron microscopes, providing enhanced imaging capacities with material-­deposition and material-removal capabilities. Recently, FIB-EM preparation techniques have been applied to geological samples to characterize mineral inclusions, grain boundaries, and microfossils. We here provide a summary of recent paleobiological studies that use FIB-EM methodology for the examination of fossils. Additionally, we demonstrate a novel method for analyzing the three-dimensional ultrastructure of microfossils (reported previously by Schiffbauer and Xiao [Palaios 24: 616–626, 2009]). This method, FIB-EM nanotomography, consists of sequential ion milling, or cross-sectioning, and concurrent SEM imaging, a technique that provides three-dimensional data of precise sites at high spatial resolution, yielding new insight into fossil ultrastructure. We here illustrate the use of FIB-EM nanotomography by studies of herkomorphic and acanthomorphic acritarchs (organic-walled microfossils) extracted from the ≥999 Ma Mesoproterozoic Ruyang Group of North China. The three-dimensional characteristics of important but controversial acritarch ­features such as extravesicular processes and vesicularly enclosed central bodies are described. Taken together, these case studies demonstrate that FIB-EM ­instruments are powerful and useful tools for investigating the three-dimensionality of microfossil ultra- and nanostructures.

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Acknowledgments

Research was supported by NASA Exobiology and Evolutionary Biology Program, the Virginia Tech Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science (VT-ICTAS), and the Virginia Space Grant Consortium. We thank J. McIntosh and S.R.F. McCartney (VT-ICTAS Nanoscale Characterization and Fabrication Laboratory) for technical assistance; P. Shinpaugh (VT-CAVE, Visualization and Animation Group of ICTAS) for assistance with the construction of 3D renderings; T.A. Dexter and P.J. Voice (Virginia Tech) for critical comments and suggestions for improvement, and J. Norton for conceptual graphical representations of the Shuiyousphaeridium macroreticulatum process. A shortened version of this paper dealing specifically with the case study presented in Sect. 13.4 is available in Schiffbauer (2009), published by SEPM Society for Sedimentary Geology; and thank the editorial staff, including Palaios co-editor S.T. Hasiotis, managing editor J. Hardesty, associate editor B. Granier, and two anonymous reviewers, for greatly improving the quality of the first version of this report. We are additionally grateful to reviewers Bradley De Gregorio, Emmanuelle Javaux, and J. William Schopf for constructive and thoughtful comments and suggestions that enhanced this newest adaptation of our work. FIB-EM analyses were conducted at the VT-ICTAS Nanoscale Characterization and Fabrication Laboratory under the supervision and operation of J.D. Schiffbauer and J. McIntosh.

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  1. Department of Geosciences, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 4044 Derring Hall, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, USA

    James D. Schiffbauer & Shuhai Xiao

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  1. James D. Schiffbauer
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Correspondence to James D. Schiffbauer .

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  1. , Smithsonian Postdoctoral Fellow, Departm, Smithsonian Institution, National Museum, Washington, 20013-7012, Washington, USA

    Marc Laflamme

  2. , Department of Geosciences, Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Derring Hall 4044, Blacksburg, 24061, Virginia, USA

    James D. Schiffbauer

  3. , Department of Geosciences, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, 53201-0413, Wisconsin, USA

    Stephen Q. Dornbos

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Schiffbauer, J.D., Xiao, S. (2011). Paleobiological Applications of Focused Ion Beam Electron Microscopy (FIB-EM): An Ultrastructural Approach to the (Micro)Fossil Record. In: Laflamme, M., Schiffbauer, J., Dornbos, S. (eds) Quantifying the Evolution of Early Life. Topics in Geobiology, vol 36. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0680-4_13

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