GATE 2013 GEOLOGY & GEOPHYSICS SYLLABUS I

GATE EXAMINATION  2013-14 SYLLABUS

GEOLOGY & 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 & continental processes; physical oceanography; geomagnetism and paleomagnetism, continental drift, plate tectonics.

• Weathering; soil formation; action of river, wind, glacier & ocean;earthquakes, volcanism & orogeny.  Basic structural geology, mineralogy & petrology. Geological time scale & geochronology; stratigraphic principles;major stratigraphic divisions ofIndia.  Engineering properties of rocks and soils.  Ground water geology.Geological and geographical distribution of ore, coal and petroleum resources ofIndia.

• Introduction to remote sensing.Physical basis & applications of gravity, magnetic, electrical, electromagnetic, seismic and radiometric prospecting for oil, mineral and ground water; introductory well logging.

PART B – SECTION 1:  GEOLOGY

• Crystalsymmetry, 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 & material response; brittle and ductile deformation; primary & secondary structures;geometry & 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.

• Oremineralogy and optical properties of ore minerals; ore forming processes vis-à-vis ore-rock association (magmatic, hydrothermal, sedimentary and metamorphogenic ores);  ores & 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 inIndia; 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 & shape of earth; geochronology; seismology & interior of the earth;  variation of density, velocity, pressure, temperature, electrical & magnetic properties of the earth;earthquakes-causes & measurements, magnitude & intensity, focal mechanisms, earthquake quantification, source characteristics, seismotectonics and seismic hazards; digital seismographs, geomagnetic field, paleomagnetism; oceanic & 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’ & ‘g’ units of measurement, absolute & 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 & 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 & units of measurement, magnetic susceptibility of rocks and measurements, magnetometers,Land, airborne & marine magnetic surveys, corrections, preparation of magnetic maps, upward & 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 & suppression, self potential and its origin, field measurement,  Induced polarization, time and frequency domain IP measurements; interpretation and applications of IP, ground- water 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 & 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 & CDP surveys; land and marine seismic sources, generation and propagation of elastic waves,velocity –depth models,geo-phones,hydrophones, recording instruments (DFS), digital formats, field layouts, seismic noises & 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 & 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 & Hilbert transform, Z-transform & 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. 

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