Analysis of Morphology and Oxidation State of Iron In Situ Combined Nanoscale Measurements of Iron Oxidation and Magnetism On adjacent semi-thin sections taken from the same transgenic sample we found particulate iron deposits that showed a strong spatial variation in iron oxidation state over regions as small as ?50 nm, an example of which is shown in Figure 5Figure 5. Iron L X-ray absorption spectra taken from representative regions in the deposit are shown in Figure 5Figure 5F.