Date of Award
Spring 5-2020
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Department/Program
Forensic Science
Language
English
First Advisor or Mentor
Elise Champeil
Second Reader
Gloria Proni
Third Advisor
John Decatur
Abstract
The characterization of trace evidence is key to the field of forensic science. Trace evidence can take many forms, such as glass, fiber, and soil. Traditionally, forensic soil analysis has been painted as one of the more tedious applications, which conventionally studies the mineral composition of soil samples. In this study, we present another avenue of soil analysis that takes advantage of understudied factor of soil: soil organic matter (SOM). Using both proton (1H NMR) and carbon nuclear magnetic resonance (13C NMR) separately and applying principal component analysis (PCA) to both types of spectra, we sought to determine whether SOM could be discriminated from three separate locations in a park. We discerned that these techniques were indeed able to differentiate three locations due to the finite differences in both 1H NMR and 13C NMR. This study demonstrates that SOM can be a favorable trace evidence, as it is discrete enough to delineate the origins of soil samples.
Recommended Citation
Hsieh, Victoria G., "Discrimination of Soil Organic Matter Using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance in Conjunction with Principal Component Analysis" (2020). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/jj_etds/145