Dalva M, Moore T R, Kalacska M, Leblanc G, Costopoulos A
Department of Geography, McGill University, 805 Sherbrooke St. W., Montreal, QC, Canada H3A 0B9.
National Research Council Canada, Flight Research Laboratory, 1920 Research Rd., Ottawa, ON, Canada K1A 0R6.
Forensic Sci Int. 2015 Feb;247:41-7. doi: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2014.12.002. Epub 2014 Dec 8.
Twelve pig carcasses were buried in single, shallow and deep (30 and 90 cm, respectively) graves at an experimental site near Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, with three shallow and three deep wrapped in black plastic garbage bags. An additional six carcasses were left at the surface to decompose, three of which were bagged. Six reference pits without remains were also dug. The objective of this three-year study was to examine the biogeochemistry and utility of nitrous oxide (N2O), methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2) in grave detection and whether grave depth or cadaver condition (bagged versus bare) affected soil pore air concentrations and emission of the three gases. Graves showed significantly higher (α=0.05) concentrations and surface fluxes of N2O and CO2 than reference pits, but there was no difference in CH4 between graves and reference pits. While CH4 decreased with depth in the soil profiles, N2O and CO2 showed a large increase compared to reference pits. Shallow graves showed significantly higher emissions and pore air concentrations of N2O and CO2 than deep graves, as did bare versus bagged carcasses.
在加拿大安大略省渥太华附近的一个实验场地，12具猪的尸体被埋在单个浅坑和深坑（分别为30厘米和90厘米）中，其中3具浅坑和3具深坑的尸体用黑色塑料垃圾袋包裹。另外6具尸体留在地表分解，其中3具装袋。还挖掘了6个没有遗体的参考坑。这项为期三年的研究目的是检验一氧化二氮（N2O）、甲烷（CH4）和二氧化碳（CO2）在坟墓探测中的生物地球化学特性和效用，以及坟墓深度或尸体状况（装袋与裸露）是否会影响土壤孔隙空气浓度和这三种气体的排放。坟墓中N2O和CO2的浓度及表面通量显著高于（α=0.05）参考坑，但坟墓和参考坑中的CH4没有差异。虽然CH4在土壤剖面中随深度降低，但与参考坑相比，N2O和CO2大幅增加。浅坑中N2O和CO2的排放量及孔隙空气浓度显著高于深坑，裸露尸体与装袋尸体的情况也是如此。
