Discrimination of Soil Organic Matter Using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance in Conjunction with Principal Component Analysis

Author

Victoria G. Hsieh, CUNY John Jay CollegeFollow

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