Forensic petrology
Definition
The application of petrological methods (rock description, thin-section analysis, provenance tracing) to forensic questions. A forensic petrologist might match a rock fragment on clothing to a specific geological formation or quarry source.
Related terms
- Anthropogenic particles
- Particles with geological compositions that were created or modified by human industrial activity: coal fly ash, slag, concrete aggregate, crushed brick, and...
- Locard's exchange principle applied to geology
- When a person contacts an earth surface, geological material transfers bidirectionally. The suspect carries material from the scene; the scene receives material...
- Mineral assemblage
- The collection of mineral species present in a sample, and their proportions. Assemblages reflect the bedrock that eroded to produce the sediment,...
- Pedology
- The scientific study of soil as a natural body, including its formation, morphology, and classification. Forensic soil science applies pedological methods; forensic...
- Reference population
- The set of samples representing the range of materials that could plausibly have produced the questioned sample, in the absence of the...
Explained in
- Scope, Boundaries, and the Geological ApproachThe application of petrological methods (rock description, thin-section analysis, provenance tracing) to forensic questions. A forensic petrologist might match...