Float-Sink Transition
Definition
The shift from negative to positive buoyancy in an immersed body as putrefaction gas accumulates in the body cavities. Typically occurs 5 to 14 days post-mortem in temperate water; 2 to 5 days in tropical water; 3 to 6 weeks or longer in cold water below 10°C.
Related terms
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- Cadaver Decomposition Island (CDI)
- The localised area of soil and vegetation altered by the decomposition fluids and gases released from a body. A CDI has a...
- Calcination
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- Carnivore Gnaw Marks
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- Dermestid Gnaw Marks
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- Maggot Mass Temperature
- The elevated temperature (10 to 15°C above ambient) generated by metabolic heat from dense aggregations of blowfly larvae on a decomposing body....
- Necrobiome
- The microbial community associated with a decomposing body, encompassing the thanatomicrobiome (internal community at the time of death) and the successive soil...
- Saponification
- The chemical conversion of fatty acids to fatty acid salts (soaps) by hydrolysis and hydrogenation under anaerobic conditions. The biochemical mechanism of...
- Taphonomic Modifier Correction
- A documented adjustment to the raw Megyesi TBS-ADD-PMI estimate to account for identified environmental conditions (climate, soil type, burial, fire, water immersion,...
Explained in
- Taphonomic Modifiers: Soil Chemistry, Scavenging, Fire and Water ImmersionThe shift from negative to positive buoyancy in an immersed body as putrefaction gas accumulates in the body cavities. Typically occurs 5 to 14 days post-morte...