(i) Geomorphology: Landforms - their types and development; weathering, transport and erosion; landforms in relation to rock type, structure and tectonics. Soils - their development and types. Geomorphic processes and their impact on various landforms and associated dynamics - slope, channel, coastline, glacial and aeolian; evolution of major geomorphological features of the Indian sub-continent; geomorphometric analysis and modelling.
(ii) Sedimentology: Classification of sedimentary rocks; petrography of rocks of clastic, chemical and biochemical origin. Sedimentary textures and structures. Diagenesis; marine, non- marine and mixed depositional environments. Facies association, sedimentation and tectonics; basin analysis; Reconstruction of palaeoenvironments using radioactive and stable isotopes.
(iii) Paleontology: Origin and evolution of life; fossils and their uses; species concept; functional morphology, classification and evolution of important invertebrate, vertebrate and plant fossils; biomineralisation and trace fossils; types of microfossils and their applications; palaeobiogeography and palaeoecology; evolution of man. Oxygen and carbon isotopic studies on fossils; analysis of palaeontological record for tracing plate tectonics processes.
(iv) Stratigraphy: Recent developments in stratigraphic classification: Litho bio- and chrono stratigraphic units and their
interrelationships; modern methods of stratigraphic correlation; steps in stratigraphic studies; approaches to palaeogeography; Earth’s climatic history. Rocks of Phanerozoic Eon in
(v) Structural Geology and Geotectonics: Concepts of stress and strain: strain analysis using deformed objects; geometric classification of folds; mechanics of folding; folding in shear zones; geometry of superposed folding; structural analysis in terrains with multiple deformation; foliation and lineation; geometry and mechanics of shear zones; brittle-ductile and ductile structures in shear zones; geometry of thrust sheets. Classification of unconformities; map patterns and their uses in the determination of large-scale structures. Isostasy; seismicity; sea-floor spreading and plate tectonics; orogenesis; orogenic belts of
(vi) Mineralogy: Concept of symmetry, point group, lattice and space group; principles of crystal chemistry; principles of optical and X-ray mineralogy. Structural classification of minerals; structure and its interrelation with physical and chemical properties of minerals; important phase diagrams of major rockforming minerals and ore minerals; principles of geothermo-barometry.
(vii) Geochemistry: Abundances of elements; structure and atomic properties of elements; the Periodic Table; geochemical classification and distribution of elements in the earth; principles of geochemical cycling; principles of ionic substitution in minerals; laws of thermodynamics; concepts of free energy, activity, fugacity and equilibrium constant; thermodynamics of ideal, nonideal and dilute solutions; element partitioning in minerals/rock formation and concept of distribution coefficients; concept of P-T-X, Eh-pH diagrams and mineral stabilities; radioactive decay schemes, growth of daughter isotopes and radiometrics dating; stable isotopes and their fractionation. Mineral/Mineral assemblages as ‘sensors’ of ambient environments.
(viii)Petrology: Phase equilibria studies of single, binary, ternary and quaternary silicate systems with reference to petrogenesis; magmas, their generation in the crust and mantle, their emplacement and their relation to plate tectonics; magmatic crystallization, differentiation and assimilation; classification of igneous rocks; major and trace elements and isotopic composition of igneous rocks in the context of petrogenesis; petrogenesis of important types of igneous rocks; volatile components in petrogenesis. Physical and rheological properties of silicate melts - Bingham liquid; partial melting and fractional crystallization in closed and open system models. Role of T, P and fluids in metamorphism; metamorphic facies; mineral assemblages and important reactions in different facies; types of metamorphism and metamorphic - belts; relationship among metamorphism, anatexis and grantization. Petrogenetic aspects of important rocks of
(ix)
(x) Marine Geology: Morphological and tectonic domains of the ocean floor; midocean ridge systems; seawater-basalt interaction and hydrothermal vents; models and rates of ocean circulation and of sedimentation in the oceans; diagenetic changes in oxic and anoxic environments; mobility of redox metals; major components of marine sediments and processes regulating sediment composition; geochronology of marine sediments from radioactivity measurements; sedimentary markers of palaeoenvironmental conditions; mineral resources of the oceans and factors controlling their distribution.
Ocean margins; nature of deep-sea sediments, their chronology and correlation; tectonic history of the oceans.
(xi) Petroleum and Coal Geology: Origin, migration and entrapment of petroleum; properties of source and reservoir rocks; structural, stratigraphic and combinations traps. Techniques of exploration. Petroliferous basins of
(xii) Precambrian Geology and Crustal Evolution: Evolution of the early crust, early Precambrian life, lithological, geochemical and stratigraphic characteristics of granite- greenstone and granulite belts. Stratigraphy and geochronology of the Precambrian terrains of
(xiii)Applied Geology:
(a) Photogeology and Remote Sensing: Elements of photogrammetry; elements of photo interpretation; electromagnetic spectrum, emission range, film and imagery; multispectral sensors; geological interpretation of air-photos and imagery.
(b) Engineering Geology: Mechanical properties of rocks; geological investigations for the construction of dams, bridges, highways and tunnels.
(c) Mineral Exploration: Geological and geophysical methods of surface and subsurface exploration on different scales, sampling, assaying and evaluation of mineral deposits; geochemical and geobotanical surveys in exploration.
