Abstract

Soil is primarily composed of various intricate natural elements, including inorganic and organic materials and a wide range of living organisms. Forensic soil scientists focus on analyzing soils that have been disturbed or moved, usually due to human activities. Each soil type has distinct characteristics, such as color, texture, and mineral content, and these variations in the soil make soil valuable evidence to prove the linkage between a suspect and a crime scene. Soil evidence acts as a silent witness even a suspect may be unaware that soil particles can get stuck on them (like shoes, clothes vehicles) or around them (like the carpet in the car). Techniques like microscopy (Stereo binocular microscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy) help examine the physical properties of soil like color, and size while chemical analysis techniques like (X-ray powder diffraction) reveal its mineral composition. The main goal of forensic soil analysis is to determine whether the two sample sets came from the same location. This article explores various analytical methods for differentiating soils and offers a comprehensive overview of soil as trace evidence. It is intended to support academics, researchers, and forensic soil scientists in their investigations.

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