Testing the Forensic Predictive Geolocation Significance of Human-made Particulates in Urban Surface Soils
type: CreativeWork
description: Forensic geolocation is of increasing interest to the soil forensics and geoscience community. Not much is known about the forensic geolocation significance of anthropogenic materials in soils. As a result, the goal of this study was to investigate the potential forensic predictive geolocation significance of human-made particulates in urban surface soil samples using quantitative data. In total, 78 samples have been collected from 2 urban areas (Enschede, the Netherlands & Cardiff, Wales) and 1 rural area (Cornwall, England). Multiple analyses were done to differentiate between the soil samples. The soil colour, particle size and particle sorting were determined for every soil sample. In addition, subsamples were taken and analysed of 34 samples (32 urban samples and 2 rural samples) to determine the presence and abundance of the inorganic anthropogenic materials using automated scanning electron microscopy with linked energy dispersive spectrometers (SEM-EDS) (using a QEMSCAN system) and fluorescence microscopy analyses to determine the number of fibres with a human-made origin in the samples. Furthermore, potential plastic particles were handpicked from 10 samples for fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy(FTIR)analysis. Then hand-picked particles were analysed with the FTIR and the spectra were compared with two FTIR databases for identification. Only 1 particle was identified as a plastic (polyethylene), the other analysed particles could not be reliably identified using the 2 different databases. However, based on the spectra, it could be concluded that there were different types of potential plastic particles analysed. More research is needed to determine if plastics could be used to distinguish between soil samples in forensic casework. This study was unable to reliably distinguish between human-made and natural fibres and therefore also unable to quantify the number of fibres with a human-made origin in urban surface soil samples. Further research is requi…
abstract: Forensic geolocation is of increasing interest to the soil forensics and geoscience community. Not much is known about the forensic geolocation significance of anthropogenic materials in soils. As a result, the goal of this study was to investigate the potential forensic predictive geolocation significance of human-made particulates in urban surface soil samples using quantitative data. In total, 78 samples have been collected from 2 urban areas (Enschede, the Netherlands & Cardiff, Wales) and 1 rural area (Cornwall, England). Multiple analyses were done to differentiate between the soil samples. The soil colour, particle size and particle sorting were determined for every soil sample. In addition, subsamples were taken and analysed of 34 samples (32 urban samples and 2 rural samples) to determine the presence and abundance of the inorganic anthropogenic materials using automated scanning electron microscopy with linked energy dispersive spectrometers (SEM-EDS) (using a QEMSCAN system) and fluorescence microscopy analyses to determine the number of fibres with a human-made origin in the samples. Furthermore, potential plastic particles were handpicked from 10 samples for fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy(FTIR)analysis. Then hand-picked particles were analysed with the FTIR and the spectra were compared with two FTIR databases for identification. Only 1 particle was identified as a plastic (polyethylene), the other analysed particles could not be reliably identified using the 2 different databases. However, based on the spectra, it could be concluded that there were different types of potential plastic particles analysed. More research is needed to determine if plastics could be used to distinguish between soil samples in forensic casework. This study was unable to reliably distinguish between human-made and natural fibres and therefore also unable to quantify the number of fibres with a human-made origin in urban surface soil samples. Further research is requi…
author: van Gijtenbeek, Mathijs
language: eng
date published: 2022
date modified: 2026-07-24T04:39:44Z
provider: University of South Wales
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of South Wales