Soil survey laboratory grain count data to substantiate the rarity of mineral grains in forensic soil reports of examination.

ABSTRACT: The Natural Resources Conservation Service-Kellogg Soil Survey Laboratory has a large publicly available database of laboratory analyses of soil horizons collected from soil profiles largely from the United States. Among these soil properties are mineral grain counts from selected sand and silt fractions of soil horizons, performed by polarized light microscopy (PLM). These grain counts of over 20,000 fractions from 7534 sites provide a substantial reference that a forensic soil examiner could use to substantiate the rarity or commonness of a mineral species. The statement of the rarity or commonness of various minerals provide juries with additional context for the interpreting the results of a forensic soil comparison within the framework of a trial. The grain count data at specific loca

SUBMITTER: Stern LA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9291941 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature