Diatomological mapping of eight waterbodies of Himachal Pradesh by using Scanning Electron Microscopy- A forensic perspective.

Diatom test is widely used for ascertaining the place of drowning as well as the manner of drowning i.e. ante or post mortem drowning. In this paper, we report Diatomological mapping of eight waterbodies of Himachal Pradesh across Una, Bilaspur, Mandi, Kullu, Sirmaur and Kinnuar districts during across all the seasons using SEM, which would be helpful in the correct identification of diatoms in drowning cases. Diatoms from water samples were extracted using acid digestion and analyzed using Scanning electron microscopy. The results of present study have generated database of diatom diversity in context to different seasons i.e. Summer, Autumn, Winter and Spring seasons. It has been found that majority of diatoms was observed in the Spring season due to favorable environmental conditions while the adverse effect of light and temperature in the winter season declines the growth of diatom flora. It has been concluded that during the morphological examination of diatoms, sometimes the finer details of diatoms frustules such as their valve number, striae number, raphe details cannot be examined by LM even at higher magnification. SEM is required to examine them and correct identification of diatoms can be done up to the species level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]