Donoghue E R, Minnigerode S C
J Forensic Sci. 1977 Jul;22(3):573-9.
The specific gravity and buoyancy of 98 men were calculated at various lung volumes. The data indicated that all subjects would be capable of floating in either freshwater or seawater at total lung capacity. At functional residual capacity, the value approximating the lung volume of a recently dead body, 69% of the subjects would float in seawater, whereas only 7% would float in freshwater. Results of this study indicate that while drowned bodies are more likely to sink than bodies dead of other causes, no conclusion regarding the cause of death can be made on the basis of whether bodies float or sink.
计算了98名男性在不同肺容量下的比重和浮力。数据表明，所有受试者在肺总量时都能够漂浮在淡水或海水中。在功能残气量时，该值接近刚死亡尸体的肺容量，69%的受试者会漂浮在海水中，而只有7%的受试者会漂浮在淡水中。本研究结果表明，虽然溺水尸体比死于其他原因的尸体更有可能下沉，但不能根据尸体是漂浮还是下沉来推断死亡原因。
