Paper 1

Section A: Geomorphology and Remote Sensing

Introduction: Development, Scope, Geomorphic concepts, Types and Tools; Landforms: Role of Lithology, peneplaination, endogenous and exogenous forces responsible, climatic and Tectonic factors and rejuvenation of landforms; Denudational processes: Weathering , erosion, transportation, weathering products and soils – profiles, types, duricrusts; Hillslopes: Their characteristics and development, fluvial processes on hillslopes; River and drainage basin: Drainage pattern, network characteristics, Valleys and their development, processes of river erosion, transportation and deposition; Landforms produced by geomorphic agents: Fluvial, Coastal , Glacial and Aeolian landforms; Geomorphic indicators of neotectonic movements: Stream channel morphology changes, drainage modifications, fault reactivation, Uplift – subsidence pattern in coastal areas; Applied Geomorphology: Application in various fields of earth sciences viz. Mineral prospecting, Geohydrology, Civil Engineering and Environmental studies; Geomorphology of India: Geomorphical features and zones

Electromagnetic radiation – characteristics, remote sensing regions and bands; General orbital and sensor characteristics of remote sensing satellites; Spectra of common natural objects – soil, rock, water and vegetation. Aerial photos – types, scale, resolution, properties of aerial photos, stereoscopic parallax, relief displacement; Principles of photogrammetry; Digital image processing - characteristics of remote sensing data, preprocessing, enhancements, classification; Elements of photo and imagery pattern and interpretation, application in Geology; Remote sensing applications in interpreting structure and tectonics, Lithological mapping, mineral resources, natural hazards and disaster mitigation, groundwater potentials and environmental monitoring. Landsat, Skylab, Seasat and other foreign systems of satellites and their interpretation for geological and other studies; Space research in India – Bhaskara and IRS systems and their applications, Thermal IR remote sensing and its applications, Microwave remote sensing and its applications. Principles and components of Geographic Information System (GIS), remote sensing data integration with GIS, applications of GIS in various geological studies.

Section B: Structural Geology

Principle of geological mapping and map reading, projection diagrams. Stress-strain relationships for elastic, plastic and viscous materials. Measurement of strain in deformed rocks. Behaviour of minerals and rocks under deformation conditions. Structural analysis of folds, cleavages, lineations, joints and faults. Superposed deformation. Mechanism of folding, faulting and progressive deformation. Shear Zones: Brittle and ductile shear zones, geometry and products of shear zones; Mylonites and cataclasites, their origin and significance.Time relationship between crystallization and deformation. Unconformities and basement-cover relations. Structural behaviour of igneous plutons, diapirs and salt domes. Introduction to petrofabric analysis.

Section C: Geodynamics

Earth and its internal structure. Continental drift – geological and geophysical evidence and objections. An overview of plate tectonics including elementary concepts of plates, lithosphere, asthenosphere, types of plate boundaries and associated important geological features like oceanic trenches, volcanic arcs, accretionary wedges, topography of mid-ocean ridges, magnetic anomaly stripes and transform faults. Gravity anomalies at mid-ocean ridges, deep sea trenches, continental shield areas and mountain chains. Palaeomagnetism and its application for determining palaeoposition of continents. Isostasy, Orogeny and Epeirogeny. Seismic belts of the earth. Seismiciy at plate boundaries. Principles of Geodesy, Global Positioning System (GPS) and its application in crustal motion monitoring including neotectonics. Palaeoposition of India and Geodynamics of the Indian plate.

Section D: Stratigraphy

Principles of Statigraphy: History and Development of Statigraphy; Stratigraphic procedures (Surface and Subsurface); Concept of Lithofacies and Biofacies; Stratigraphic Correlation (Litho, Bio- and Chronostrarigraphic Correlation); Study of standard stratigraphic code (Lithostratigraphic, Biostratigraphic and Chronostratigraphic); Concepts of Magnetostratigraphy, Chemostratigraphy, Event stratigraphy, and Sequence stratigraphy; Nomenclature and the modern stratigraphic code. Radioisotopes and measuring geological time. Geological time-scale. Stratigraphic procedures of correlation of unfossiliferous rocks. Precambrian stratigraphy of India: Achaean stratigraphy - tectonic frame-work, geological history and evolution of Dharwar, and their equivalents; Easterghats mobile belt; Proterozoic stratigraphy -tectonic framework, geological history and evolution of Cuddapahs and their equivalents.

Palaeozoic stratigraphy: Palaeozoic formations of India with special reference to type localities, history of sedimentation, fossil content. Mesozoic stratigraphy: Mesozoic formations of India with special reference to type localities, history of sedimentation, fossil content. Cenozoic stratigraphy: Cenozoic formations of India, Rise of the Himalayas and evolution of Siwalik basin. Stratigraphic boundaries: Stratigraphic boundary problems in Indian geology. Gondwana Supergroup and Gondwanaland. Deccan Volcanics. Quaternary stratigraphy. Rocks record, palaeoclimates and palaeogeography

Section E: Palaeontology

Evolution of the fossil record and the geological time scale. Basic and functional morphology of major fossil groups. Species concept; Major evolutionary theories; Techniques in Palaeontology mega fossils- microfossils – nannofossils, ichnofossils – collection, identification and illustration – binomial Nomenclature; Invertebrate Palaeontology – A brief study of morphology, classification, evolutionary trends and distribution of Bivalves, cephalopoda and Gastropods, Echinoids, Corals and Brachiopods. Vertebrate Palaeontology – Brief study of vertebrate life through ages. Evolution of reptiles and mammals; Siwalik vertebrate fauna; Biodiversity and mass extinction events; evidence of life in Precambrian times; Palaeontological perspective: Use of palaeontological data in a) Stratigraphy b) Palaeoecology and evolution; Introduction to Micropalaeontology; Types of Microfossils; Plant fossils: Gondwana flora and their significance. Different microfossil groups and their distribution in India; Application of palynology. Basic idea about statistical application in palaeontology. Fundamentals of isotopic studies of fossils.