Forensic Geology
Definition
The application of geological sciences to legal and investigative problems, treating earth materials such as soil, rock, mineral, sediment, and dust as trace evidence that links people and objects to specific locations.
- Materials studied
- Soil, rock, mineral, sediment, dust
- Treated as
- Trace evidence linking people and objects to locations
- Parent field
- Geological sciences
- Typical technique
- Comparative mineralogical and particle-size analysis
Common questions
How does soil evidence actually place a suspect at a scene?+
Soil composition, including mineral content, particle size distribution and organic material, varies over short distances, so matching soil recovered from a suspect's shoes or vehicle to a scene's distinctive profile can corroborate presence there even without an eyewitness.
What distinguishes forensic geology from general trace evidence work?+
It requires geological training to interpret mineral assemblages, stratigraphy and provenance correctly, skills a general trace examiner without an earth science background typically does not have, which is why dedicated forensic geologists are consulted for these cases.
Related terms
- Comparative Mineralogy
- The systematic comparison of mineral assemblages from a questioned sample and a reference sample to assess whether they share the same geographic...
- Geo-Provenance
- The determination of geographic origin of a geological material based on its physical, mineralogical, or geochemical characteristics. The same concept that geologists...
- Heavy-Mineral Suite
- The assemblage of high-specific-gravity minerals (greater than about 2.85 g/cm3) present in a sediment sample, typically including zircon, tourmaline, garnet, and hornblende....
- Polarised Light Microscopy (PLM)
- A microscopy technique in which polarised light is passed through a thin section or grain mount, revealing optical properties (birefringence, extinction angle,...
- Trace Evidence
- Small quantities of material transferred between people, objects, and locations during contact. Forensic geology focuses on the geological subset of trace evidence:...