Physical Evidence of Soil and Glass

Soil

An ecosystem made up of dirt and dead things

Prevalent

Widespread in occurrence

Transferable

Capable of being transferred from one place to another

Macroscopic

Visible to the naked eye or with a magnifying glass

Microscopic

Visible only under a microscope

pH

Measure of acidity or alkalinity on a scale from 0-14

Texture

Refers to particle shape, size, and composition

Munsell Color System

A system for identifying and classifying colors based on hue, value, and chroma

Body Farms

Facilities for studying decomposition in a variety of settings

Glass

Amorphous, solid, and brittle substance made from combining calcium carbonate, sodium carbonate, and sand

Soda lime

Type of glass with a lower melting point

Borosilicate

Brittle type of glass that withstands heat

Laminated glass

Glass with a layer of plastic in between

Fractures

Breaks or cracks in the glass

Flotation Test

Method for determining the density of glass particles

Refractive Index

Measure of how much light bends when passing from air to glass

Oil Immersion Method

A technique to determine the refractive index of glass

Fluorescence

Property of emitting light when exposed to ultraviolet light

Individualization

The process of matching glass fragments to a specific source

Class Evidence

Evidence that can be associated with a group but not a single source

Trace Evidence

Small amounts of evidence that can be transferred from one place to another

How we study soil visually

macroscopic and microscopic

macroscopic

visible to the naked eye

microscopic

too small to be seen except under a microscope

Analytical testing of soil

pH, Density, Refractive index,Mineral composition, size, texture, and color

soil shapes

Angular, semi rounded, rounded

soil size

clay is the smallest, biggest is boulders

PARTICLE SIZES OF TYPICAL SOILS

Coarse particles (diameter 0.10 - 2.0 mm) form sand
Finer particles (< 0.10 < 0.002 mm) form silt
Finest particles (< 0.002mm) form clay

TEXTURE CLASSIFICATIONS

Sand, Silt, Clay, Loam

ASSESSING SOIL COLOR

Munsell Color System

CHEMICAL PROPERTY OF SOIL

pH

Taphonomy

studying how things break down in soil

CLASSIFICATION OF SOIL pH

CHARACTERISTICS OF GLASS

solid, brittle, amorphous substance, not crystaline

Is glass individual or class evidence?

class most of the time