@article{761180,
      recid = {761180},
      author = {Kars, Henk, and Eijkel, Lida van den,},
      title = {Soil in criminal and environmental forensics : proceedings  of the Soil Forensics Special, 6th European Academy of  Forensic Science Conference, The Hague /},
      pages = {1 online resource (ix, 346 pages) :},
      note = {International conference proceedings.},
      abstract = {This book follows from the 6th triennial conference of the  European Academy of Forensic Sciences (EAFS) in The Hague,  where forensic practitioners and academic researchers met  to present and discuss their work in soil forensics and to  interact with the larger forensic community. Soils play a  role in environmental forensics, where criminal and liable  soil pollution is studied, and in criminal forensics, where  soils are important as a source of trace evidence and as a  place where human remains are buried and decay. At the  conference multiple sessions were devoted to all of these  topics. The contributions to this book are derived from  these sessions and likewise show the extent and complex  nature of this developing forensic expertise and its value  for law enforcement. In soil forensics a multitude of  scientific specializations, expertise and skills interplay:  soil science, mineralogy, geology, geophysics, botany,  ecology, palynology, archaeology, chemistry, spatial  analysis, sampling and (geo)statistics - all of these and  even more are relevant. Throughout this book examples are  given of methodologies that are based on these sciences and  used in soil forensics, such as GPR, GIS, examinations of  minerals, pollen, microbial DNA, inorganic and organic  materials, including material of anthropogenic origin, the  use of databases, search-strategies for missing people and  the study of decomposition processes in interaction with  the environmental conditions of the burial site. Moreover  the practice of soil forensics is depicted in its legal  context, emphasizing the need for evidence to be suitable  for court proceedings and the importance of co-operation,  not only between scientists of different specializations  but also between scientists and law enforcers, the latter  beginning even before the examination of a crime scene.  This book shows the broad field of soil forensics, emerging  and solidifying in many countries all over the world,  differing in some respects along with their legal systems,  but ultimately sharing common grounds.},
      url = {http://library.usi.edu/record/761180},
}