Forensic Analysis of Soil Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Forensic Analysis of Soil - Assignment Example Soils develop on these accumulated sediments because of physical and chemical weathering. The characteristic of the uniqueness of the soil such as horizon that has unique physical and chemical properties, color, structure, and texture are the common features that and in forensic analysis. Techniques currently used to characterize soil samples rely on either physical descriptors such as color, density gradient, particle size determination, and microscopy or chemical analysis chemical analysis such as elemental composition. However, these characterization techniques are not adequately capable of investigating organic compounds present in the soil. On the other hand, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) technique involves collecting a range of soil sample that has already undergone oxidative pyrolysis hence all organic have been degraded. This spectrum is spectrum is subtracted from the spectrum of the same sample that contains the organic prior to pyrolysis. The result IR spectrum represents the organic portion of the sample. Samples of soil collected from within the agriculture site where the murder scene is committed to the victim. After soil samples are collected from the surface to 3.4 below, the sample from the scene is compared with various color layers of different places several miles from the ‘agricultural site’ of the scene. Each sample is compared to every color in the Munsell Color Chart and is assigned a Munsell value. A second examiner later confirms each color assignment. The assigned values help to indicate the soil color both before and after pyrolysis is similar within the ‘agricultural site’. Color is a useful tool to distinguish soils that do not share a common color to show that they do not have a common source. Lastly, those soil samples that cannot be distinguished using color are submitted to a more rigorous analysis to eliminate common provenance.