What happens to a print deposited on a soft substrate?

When a print is deposited on a soft substrate, such as clay or wet soil, it tends to sink into the surface. This occurs because soft materials can deform and accept the impressions made by the ridges of fingerprints. As the print is pressed onto the soft substrate, the surface yields, capturing the unique patterns of the print. This sinking effect can create a three-dimensional impression that retains the unique characteristics of the fingerprint, which can be crucial for forensic analysis.

In contrast, options like smudging or being erased typically refer to surfaces that do not retain the impression well or are too fluid. The idea of creating unique textures relates more to the inherent qualities of the substrate itself rather than the behavior of the print on it. Thus, the correct understanding is that on soft substrates, latent prints are often preserved in a way that reflects their original structure, but they do so by sinking into the material.