GATE SYLLABUS FOR GEOLOGY AND GEOPHYSICS (GG)

Part A: Common to Geology and Geophysics

Earth and Planetary system, size, shape, internal structure and composition of the

earth; atmosphere and greenhouse effect; isostasy; elements of seismology; physical

properties of the interior of the earth; continents and continental processes; physical

oceanography; geomagnetism and paleomagnetism, continental drift, plate tectonics.

Weathering; soil formation; action of river, wind, glacier and ocean; earthquakes,

volcanism and orogeny. Basic structural geology, mineralogy and petrology.

Geological time scale and geochronology; stratigraphic principles; major stratigraphic

divisions of India. Engineering properties of rocks and soils. Ground water geology.

Geological and geographical distribution of ore, coal and petroleum resources of India.

Introduction to remote sensing. Physical basis and applications of gravity, magnetic,

electrical, electromagnetic, seismic and radiometric prospecting for oil, mineral and

ground water; introductory well logging.

Part B - Section 1: Geology

Crystal symmetry, forms, twinning; crystal chemistry; optical mineralogy, classification

of minerals, diagnostic physical and optical properties of rock forming minerals.

Igneous rocks - classification, forms and textures, magmatic differentiation; phase

diagrams and trace elements as monitors of magma evolutionary processes; mantle

melting models and derivation and primary magmas. Metamorphism; controlling

factors, metamorphic facies, grade and basic types; metamorphism of pelitic, mafic and

impure carbonate rocks; role of fluids in metamorphism; metamorphic P-T-t paths and

their tectonic significance; Igneous and metamorphic provinces of India; structure and

petrology of sedimentary rocks; sedimentary processes and environments, sedimentary

facies, basin analysis; association of igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks with

tectonic setting.

Stress, strain and material response; brittle and ductile deformation; primary and

secondary structures; geometry and genesis of folds, faults, joints, unconformities;

cleavage, schistosity and lineation; methods of projection, tectonites and their

significance; shear zone; superposed folding; basement cover relationship.

Morphology, classification and geological significance of important invertebrates,

vertebrates, microfossils and palaeoflora; stratigraphic principles and Indian

stratigraphy.

Geomorphic processes and agents; development and evolution of landforms; slope and

drainage; processes on deep oceanic and near-shore regions; quantitative and applied

geomorphology.

Ore mineralogy and optical properties of ore minerals; ore forming processes vis-à-vis

ore-rock association (magmatic, hydrothermal, sedimentary and metamorphogenic

ores); ores and metamorphism; fluid inclusions as an ore genetic tool; prospecting and

exploration of economic minerals; sampling, ore reserve estimation, geostatistics,

mining methods. Coal and petroleum geology; origin and distribution of mineral and fuel

deposits in India; marine geology and ocean resources; ore dressing and mineral

economics.

Cosmic abundance; meteorites; geochemical evolution of the earth; geochemical

cycles; distribution of major, minor and trace elements; elements of geochemical

thermodynamics, isotope geochemistry; geochemistry of waters including solution

equilibria and water rock interaction.

Engineering properties of rocks and soils; rocks as construction materials; role of

geology in the construction of engineering structures including dams, tunnels and

excavation sites; natural hazards. Ground water geology - exploration, well hydraulics

and water quality. Basic principles of remote sensing - energy sources and radiation

principles, atmospheric absorption, interaction of energy with earth's surface, air-photo

interpretation, multispectral remote sensing in visible, infrared, thermal IR and

microwave regions, digital processing of satellite images. GIS - basic concepts, raster

and vector mode operation.

Part B - Section 2: Geophysics

The earth as a planet; different motions of the earth; gravity field of the earth, Clairaut's

theorem, size and shape of earth; geochronology; seismology and interior of the earth;

variation of density, velocity, pressure, temperature, electrical and magnetic properties

of the earth; earthquakes-causes and measurements, magnitude and intensity, focal

mechanisms, earthquake quantification, source characteristics, seismotectonics and

seismic hazards; digital seismographs, geomagnetic field, paleomagnetism; oceanic

and continental lithosphere; plate tectonics; heat flow; upper and lower atmospheric

phenomena.

Scalar and vector potential fields; Laplace, Maxwell and Helmholtz equations for

solution of different types of boundary value problems in Cartesian, cylindrical and

spherical polar coordinates; Green's theorem; Image theory; integral equations in

potential theory; Eikonal equation and Ray theory. Basic concepts of forward and

inverse problems of geophysics, Ill-posedness of inverse problems.

'G' and 'g' units of measurement, absolute and relative gravity measurements; Land,

airborne, shipborne and bore-hole gravity surveys; various corrections in gravity data

reduction - free air, Bouguer and isostatic anomalies; density estimates of rocks;

regional and residual gravity separation; principle of equivalent stratum; upward and

downward continuation; wavelength filtering; preparation and analysis of gravity maps;

gravity anomalies and their interpretation - anomalies due to geometrical and irregular

shaped bodies, depth rules, calculation of mass.

Earth's magnetic field - elements, origin and units of measurement, magnetic

susceptibility of rocks and measurements, magnetometers, Land, airborne and marine

magnetic surveys, corrections, preparation of magnetic maps, upward and downward

continuation, magnetic anomalies-geometrical shaped bodies, depth estimates, Image

processing concepts in processing of magnetic anomaly maps; Interpretation of

processed magnetic anomaly data.

Conduction of electricity through rocks, electrical conductivities of metals, non-metals,

rock forming minerals and different rocks, concepts of D.C. resistivity measurement,

various electrode configurations for resistivity sounding and profiling, application of filter

theory, Type-curves over multi-layered structures, Dar-Zarrouck parameters, reduction

of layers, coefficient of anisotropy, interpretation of resistivity field data, equivalence and

suppression, self potential and its origin, field measurement, Induced polarization, time

and frequency domain IP measurements; interpretation and applications of IP, groundwater

exploration, environmental and engineering applications.

Basic concept of EM induction, Origin of electromagnetic field, elliptic polarization,

methods of measurement for different source-receiver configuration, components in EM

measurements. Skin-depth, interpretation and applications; earth's natural

electromagnetic field, tellurics, magneto-tellurics; geomagnetic depth sounding

principles, electromagnetic profiling, methods of measurement, processing of data and

interpretation. Geological applications including groundwater, mining and hydrocarbon

exploration.

Seismic methods of prospecting; Elastic properties of earth materials; Reflection,

refraction and CDP surveys; land and marine seismic sources, generation and

propagation of elastic waves, velocity - depth models, geophones, hydrophones,

recording instruments (DFS), digital formats, field layouts, seismic noises and noise

profile analysis, optimum geophone grouping, noise cancellation by shot and geophone

arrays, 2D and 3D seismic data acquisition, processing and interpretation; CDP

stacking charts, binning, filtering, dip-moveout, static and dynamic corrections, Digital

seismic data processing, seismic deconvolution and migration methods, attribute

analysis, bright and dim spots, seismic stratigraphy, high resolution seismics, VSP,

AVO. Reservoir geophysics.

Geophysical signal processing, sampling theorem, aliasing, Nyquist frequency, Fourier

series, periodic waveform, Fourier and Hilbert transform, Z-transform and wavelet

transform; power spectrum, delta function, auto correlation, cross correlation,

convolution, deconvolution, principles of digital filters, windows, poles and zeros.

Principles and techniques of geophysical well-logging. SP, resistivity, induction, gamma

ray, neutron, density, sonic, temperature, dip meter, caliper, nuclear magnetic, cement

bond logging, micro-logs. Quantitative evaluation of formations from well logs; well

hydraulics and application of geophysical methods for groundwater study; application of

bore hole geophysics in ground water, mineral and oil exploration.

Radioactive methods of prospecting and assaying of minerals (radioactive and non

radioactive) deposits, half-life, decay constant, radioactive equilibrium, G M counter,

scintillation detector, semiconductor devices, application of radiometric for exploration

and radioactive waste disposal.

Geophysical inverse problems; non-uniqueness and stability of solutions; quasi-linear

and non-linear methods including Tikhonov's regularization method, Backus-Gilbert

method, simulated annealing, genetic algorithms and artificial neural network.



Source: http://gate.iitd.ac.in/
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