Forensic Soil Science And Geology

Forensic soil science and geology provides information and operational support to assist the police and law enforcement with criminal and environmental investigations. These include: crime scene examination and the collection of soil and other materials; analysis and interpretation of this geological trace evidence; and searches associated with homicide graves, counter-terrorism and serious and organized crime. This volume provides new and sophisticated field and laboratory methods and operational casework.

The forensic potential of geological and soil evidence has been recognized for more than a century, but recently these types of evidence are used much more widely as an investigative intelligence tool and as evidence in court. There is, however, still a poor understanding of the potential value and the limitations of geological and soil evidence am

Forensic geology is the application of geology to aid the investigation of crime. A Guide to Forensic Geology was written by the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS), Initiative on Forensic Geology (IFG), which was established to promote and develop forensic geology around the world. This book presents the first practical guide for forensic geologists in search and geological trace evidence analysis. Guidance is provided on using geological methods during search operations. This developed following international case work experiences and research over the last 25 years for homicide graves, burials associated with serious and organised crime and counter terrorism. With expertise gained in over 300 serious crime investigations, the guidance also considers geological trace evidence, including the examination of crime scenes, geological evidence recovery and analysis from exhibits and the reporting of results. The book also considers the judicial system, reporting and requirements for presenting evidence in court. Included are emerging applications of geology to police and law enforcement: illegal and illicit mining, conflict minerals, substitution, adulteration, fraud and fakery.

This introductory volume to a new series on Soil Forensics gives a kaleidoscopic view of a developing forensic expertise. Forensic practitioners and academic researchers demonstrate, by their joint contributions, the extent and complexity of soil forensics. their reports exemplify the broad range of sciences and techniques applied in all stages of forensic soil examinations, from investigations at crime scenes to providing evidence that can be used in court proceedings. Moreover the necessity is depicted of co-operation as a condition for any work in soil forensics between scientists of different disciplines, but no less between scientists and law enforcers.Soils play a role in environmental crimes and liability, as trace evidence in criminal investigations and, when searching for and evaluating, buried human remains. This book shows soil forensics as practiced in this legal context, emerging and solidifying in many countries all over the world, differing in some respects because of differences in legal systems but ultimately sharing common grounds.

Soils have important roles to play in criminal and environmental forensic science. Since the initial concept of using soil in forensic investigations was mooted by Conan Doyle in his Sherlock Holmes stories prior to real-world applications, this branch of forensic science has become increasingly sophisticated and broad. New techniques in chemical, physical, biological, ecological and spatial analysis, coupled with informatics, are being applied to reducing areas of search by investigators, site identification, site comparison and measurement for the eventual use as evidence in court. Soils can provide intelligence, in assisting the determination of the provenance of samples from artifacts, victims or suspects, enabling their linkage to locations or other evidence. They also modulate change in surface or buried cadavers and hence affect the ability to estimate post-mortem or post-burial intervals, and locate clandestine graves. This interdisciplinary volume explores the conceptual and practical interplay of soil and geoforensics across the scientific, investigative and legal fields. Supported by reviews, case-studies from across the world, and reports of original research, it demonstrates the increasing convergence of a wide range of knowledge. It covers conceptual issues, evidence (from recovery to use in court), geoforensics, taphonomy, as well as leading-edge technologies. The application of the resultant soil forensics toolbox is leading to significant advances in improving crime detection, and environmental and national security.

Geological techniques are widely used in two aspects of serious criminal investigations: (1) the search for clandestine burial sites, based on near-surface geophysics or through the detection of decomposition signals and (2) the analysis of trace evidence to identify its source location or test the possible association between the trace evidence and a known location of an offence. Although geoforensics is used in such investigations world-wide there are still considerable gaps in the published literature. In addition, there is increasing concern regarding the illegal release of wastes either into the atmosphere, water courses or on to the land surface, and a growing realization that the techniques used in criminal forensics are equally useful in the investigation of environmental crime. This book bridges the gap between environmental and criminal geoforensics with conceptual, methodological and case study contributions. This demonstrates the significant potential that geoforensics holds for investigating and regulatory officers.

An Introduction to Forensic Geoscience provides fundamental training in geoscience as developed through the lens of its forensic applications. It incorporates a range of topics including geophysical methods of grave detection, the mineralogy of art, identification of microfossils, and comparison of soil trace evidence samples. Each topic is introduced using core concepts that are developed with increasing complexity in order to give readers an understanding of the underlying scientific principles involved and a taste of the wide range of possible forensic uses. A variety of detailed reference tables have been compiled for the text and each chapter contains lists of references to applicable textbooks and journal articles. Examples of real criminal cases are also presented in each chapter to make the connections between theory and real world application. The goal of this book is to give readers a familiarity with the wide range of ways in which geoscience principles and geological materials can be utilized forensically. Additional resources for this book can be found at: http://www.wiley.com/go/bergslien/forensicgeoscience.

This treatment of the application of geology to forensic science details problems, methods and recent advances.