Soil in Criminal and Environmental Forensics : Proceedings of the Soil Forensics Special, 6th European Academy of Forensic Science Conference, The Hague

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. Front Matter....Pages i-ix Front Matter....Pages 1-1 Forensic Palynology: Checking Value of Pollen Analysis as a Tool to Identify Crime Scene in Semiarid Environments....Pages 3-13 Forensic Palynology: How Pollen in Dry Grass Can Link to a Crime Scene....Pages 15-23 Geological Analysis of Soil and Anthropogenic Material. Three Case Studies....Pages 25-43 Forensic Soil Analysis: Case Study of Looting at a Roman-Visigothic Burial Vault....Pages 45-60 Soil Comparisons Using Small Soil Traces, A Case Report....Pages 61-69 Forensic Comparison of Soil Samples....Pages 71-105 Reinstating Soil Examination as a Trace Evidence Sub-discipline....Pages 107-120 Methodology of Forensic Soil Examination in Russia and a View on the World Standardization Process....Pages 121-136 Front Matter....Pages 137-137 Geographical Information Systems – A Working Example in the Brazilian Federal Police for Fighting Environmental Crime....Pages 139-152 Forensic Characterization of Gasoline Releases Impacting the Environment....Pages 153-161 A General Overview of Pesticides in Soil: Requirement of Sensitive and Current Residue Analysis Methods....Pages 163-180 Front Matter....Pages 181-181 A Study of pH as an Influencing Factor in the Survival of Human Remains at Sites Investigated by the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims Remains....Pages 183-199 Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Search and Location of Buried Bodies: A United Kingdom Context....Pages 201-211 Forensic Geophysics: How the GPR Technique Can Help with Forensic Investigations....Pages 213-227 Filter Paper Adsorption and Ninhydrin Reagent as Presumptive Test for Gravesoil....Pages 229-240 Front Matter....Pages 241-241 Changes in Soil Microbial Activity Following Cadaver Decomposition During Spring and Summer Months in Southern Ontario....Pages 243-262 Soil Fauna and Their Effects on Decomposition Within Coniferous and Deciduous Tree Soil Samples....Pages 263-273 Analysis of Decomposition Fluid Collected from Carcasses Decomposing in the Presence and Absence of Insects....Pages 275-296 Forensic Analysis of Volatile Organic Compounds from Decomposed Remains in a Soil Environment....Pages 297-316 GC×GC-TOFMS, the Swiss Knife for VOC Mixtures Analysis in Soil Forensic Investigations....Pages 317-329 Front Matter....Pages 241-241 An Investigation of the Degradation of Polymeric Grave Goods in Soil Environments....Pages 331-341 Back Matter....Pages 343-346 "This book follows from the 6th triennial conference of the European Academy of Forensic Sciences (EAFS) in The Hague, where forensic practitioners and academic researchers met to present and discuss their work in soil forensics and to interact with the larger forensic community. Soils play a role in environmental forensics, where criminal and liable soil pollution is studied, and in criminal forensics, where soils are important as a source of trace evidence and as a place where human remains are buried and decay. At the conference multiple sessions were devoted to all of these topics. The contributions to this book are derived from these sessions and likewise show the extent and complex nature of this developing forensic expertise and its value for law enforcement. In soil forensics a multitude of scientific specializations, expertise and skills interplay: soil science, mineralogy, geology, geophysics, botany, ecology, palynology, archaeology, chemistry, spatial analysis, sampling and (geo)statistics - all of these and even more are relevant. Throughout this book examples are given of methodologies that are based on these sciences and used in soil forensics, such as GPR, GIS, examinations of minerals, pollen, microbial DNA, inorganic and organic materials, including material of anthropogenic origin, the use of databases, search-strategies for missing people and the study of decomposition processes in interaction with the environmental conditions of the burial site. Moreover the practice of soil forensics is depicted in its legal context, emphasizing the need for evidence to be suitable for court proceedings and the importance of co-operation, not only between scientists of different specializations but also between scientists and law enforcers, the latter beginning even before the examination of a crime scene. This book shows the broad field of soil forensics, emerging and solidifying in many countries all over the world, differing in some respects along with their legal systems, but ultimately sharing common grounds. ". 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