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- Wiley
More About This Title Forensic Geoscience: Advances and Applications
English
Forensic Geology (known also as Geoforensics or Forensic Geoscience) is the application of geology to criminal investigations. This includes both the knowledge base, such as understanding geomorphology in order to determine where a stream system may have deposited a transported object, and the analytical tools of Earth Scientists, like employing the x-ray diffraction (XRD) systems commonly used for identification of powered minerals to characterize a soil sample taken from a crime scene. Forensic geologists may assist in criminal and civil investigations to help determine what happened, where and when it occurred, or to help search for graves, caches, or objects buried in the ground. In a law enforcement context, forensic geology specialists typically support the police in two broad fields: in characterization of geological (trace) evidence and in searches.
The goal of this project is to produce a volume that outlines the current state of the field and provides the reader with examples of various applications through the use of case studies and research reports – not rehashing generalizations but giving examples of particular cases where geologic evidence was fundamental – particularly to highlight applications that are less well known or to illustrate some kind of lesson or challenge an assumption. Most of the existing books are either volumes geared towards teaching or are compilations of conference papers that typically lack a unifying theme and approach the topic in a somewhat scattershot fashion. The proposed volume would be more comprehensive, outlining the types of approaches that are available and where they may and may not be appropriate.
English
Organization
The book will be grouped into subsections that revolve around a specific discipline/activity. Broadly there will be an introductory section, a section that covers trace evidentiary aspects of forensic geoscience and a section that covers search aspects.
Table of Contents
Introduction
History that gives an overview of advances in techniques/applications - so starting with ‘firsts/pioneers’ then getting more into some case histories - use of geological methods or techniques in case work or the court roomOverview of recent publications / highlights about advances in the field and best practicesGeologic Trace Evidence
Advances in Soil Analysis
Review article - general road trip through some published highlights - starting with some ‘classic’ articles likes Graves, W. J. (1979) A mineralogical soil classification technique for the forensic scientist. Journal of Forensic Sciences 24: 323–38 and moving forward in time.Review / status of Microscopy — still the fundamental tool for trace evidence analysis, microscopy doesn’t get published about much because it isn’t considered ‘groundbreaking’, which is a problem because we are losing our optical microscopy skills and knowledge base!Case examples Case work / ApplicationsXRDXRFSEMRaman?QEMSCAN ?Analysis of Geologic Trace Evidence
Case examples / researchWhite mica caseStable IsotopesAdiposeSearch
Advances in Search Approaches/Conceptions - Maps, GIS –
Case work / ApplicationsRAG maps?GIS and databasingAdvances in Geophysical Search -
Again a review article - road trip though use of geological methodsCase work / ApplicationsGPREMIOther