GATE SYLLABUS FOR GEOLOGY AND GEOPHYSICS

Gate Syllabus for Geology And GeoPhysics

PART - I



Earth and Planetary system; size, shape, internal structure and composition of the earth; atmosphere and greenhouse effect; isostasy; elements of seismology; pressure in deep interior of planets; continents and continental processes; physical oceanography; paleomagnetism, continental drift, plate tectonics.

Weathering; soil formation; action of river, wind and glacier; oceans and oceanic features; earthquakes, volcanoes, orogeny and mountain building; elements of structural geology; crystallography; classification, composition and properties of minerals; elements of petrology; engineering properties of rocks and soils, role of geology in the construction of engineering structures.

Introductory processes of ore formation, broad occurrence and distribution of ore deposits; coal and petroleum resources in India; ground water geology geological time scale and geochronology; stratigraphic principles and stratigraphy of India; basic concepts of gravity, magnetic and electrical prospecting for ores and ground water.

PART – IIA: 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 of primary magmas. Metamorphism: controlling factors, metamorphic facies, grade and baric 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 studies; 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; air photo interpretation and remote sensing; 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, 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 material; geology of dams; tunnels and excavation sites; natural hazards; ground water geology and exploration and well hydraulics; water quality; basic principles of remote sensing – energy sources and radiation principles, atmospheric absorption, interaction of energy with various features of the earth's surface. GIS – basic concepts, raster and vector mode operation, digital processing of satellite images, visual and microwave remote sensing; elements of Geostatistics

PART – II B: GEOPHYSICS

The earth as a planet; different motions of the earth; gravity field of the earth and its shape; 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, paleoseismology, geomagnetic field, paleomagnetism; oceanic and continental lithosphere; plate tectonics; heat flow; upper and lower atmospheric phenomena.

Theories of 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 and conformal transformations in potential theory; Eikonal equation and Ray theory.

'G' and 'g' units of measurement, density of rocks, gravimeters, Bouguer gravity formula, various corrections to gravity data, free air, Bouguer and isostatic anomalies, regional and residual gravity separation, upward and downward continuation, preparation and analysis of gravity maps; gravity anomalies and their interpretation; calculation of mass, airborne, shipborne and bore-hole gravity surveys.

Earth's magnetic field, units of measurement, magnetic susceptibility of rocks, magnetometers, corrections, preparation of magnetic maps, upward and downward continuation, magnetic anomalies and their interpretation; magnetic anomalies and their interpretation.

Conduction of electricity through rocks, electrical conductivities of metals, metallic, non-metallic and rock forming minerals, D.C. resistivity units and methods of measurement, electrode configuration for sounding and profiling, application of filter theory, interpretation of resistivity field data, application; self potential origin, classification, field measurement, interpretation of induced polarization time frequency, phase domain; IP units and methods of measurement, interpretation and application; ground-water exploration.

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.

Seismic methods of prospecting: Reflection, refraction and CDP surveys; land and marine seismic sources, generation and propagation of elastic waves, velocity increasing with depth, 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, migration, signal processing, attribute analysis, bright and dim spots, seismic stratigraphy, high resolution seismics, VSP, AVO.

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 signal processing, sampling theorem, aliasing, Nyquist frequency, Fourier series, periodic waveform, Fourier and Hilbert transform, Z-transform, power spectrum, delta function, auto correlation, cross correlation, convolution, deconvolution, principles of digital filters, windows, poles and zeros.

Geophysical inverse problems: non-uniqueness and stability of solutions; quasi-linear and non-linear methods including genetic algorithms and artificial neural network.

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