Forensic geology

Forensic geology is the study of evidence relating to materials found in the Earth used to answer questions raised by the legal system.

In 1975, Ray Murray and fellow Rutgers University professor John Tedrow published Forensic Geology.

[2] In 2008, Alastair Ruffell and Jennifer McKinley, both of Queen's University Belfast, published Geoforensics[3] a book that focuses more on the use of geomorphology and geophysics for searches.

[4] In 2012, Elisa Bergslien, at SUNY Buffalo State, published a general textbook on the topic, An Introduction to Forensic Geoscience.

[5] According to Murray, forensic geology began with Sherlock Holmes writer, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

The character Sherlock Holmes claimed to be able to identify where an individual had been by various methods, including his having memorized the exposed geology of London to such a degree that detecting certain clays on a person's shoe would give away a locale.

Georg Popp, of Frankfurt, Germany, may have been the first to use soil analysis for linking suspects to a crime scene.

[6] In 1891, Hans Gross used microscopic analysis of soils and other materials from a suspect's shoes to link him to the crime scene.

[2] .To avoid the errors of simply using human perception, to obtain objective results computer controlled spectrophotometry can be used.

One computerized method is using CIELAB which consists of using an electronic spectrophotometer and calorimeter to create 3D plotting of colour.

Depending on the sample, different methods can be used such as examination use a microscope, laser diffraction, dry/ wet sieving, computer program analysis and many more.

Nowadays pH meters due to microcircuitry and plastic not only reduces the cost of these devices but also allows for an overall better protection of the unit.

Further studies are attempting a technique to produce a device to obtain microsite pH in various soil systems by using plant cells via microprocedures.

[12] The tools used to collect evidence depend on type of sample either questioned or control as well as its structure and size.

To avoid continuous microbial activity related to sample taken from damp area, they are refrigerated prior.

[12] The principle use of a ground-penetrating radar device in regards to forensic geology is to find buried bodies.

Studies conducted using this device show data of its capability to discover hallow and forensic relevant locations as well as specific geometries.

[12] The seismograph devices functions under the principle of waves that travel differently through rocks and are recorded as vibrations.

[12] In forensic applications, the device is used to understand explosives and differentiating them from natural occurrences such as earthquakes.