Introduction
Stratigraphy is the study of relationships of rock strata. Structural Geology is the study of geologic structures such as faults and folds. Tectonics deals with large-scale Earth structures such as tectonic plates and their deep interior. Volcanology is the study of volcanoes and volcanic processes.
This article will give you complete information regarding the GATE Geology and Geophysics Syllabus 2024.
GATE Geology and Geophysics Syllabus (GG) 2024
GATE Geology and Geophysics Syllabus consists of two Parts,
- Common Section.
- Geology.
Part A: Common Section
Earth and Planetary system – size, shape, internal structure and composition of the earth; the concept of isostasy;
elements of seismology – body and surface waves, propagation of body waves in the earth’s interior; Gravitational field of the Earth; geomagnetism and paleomagnetism; continental drift;
plate tectonics – relationship with earthquakes, volcanism, and mountain building;
continental and oceanic crust – composition, structure, and thickness
Weathering and soil formation; landforms created by river, wind, glacier, ocean, and volcanoes.
Basic structural geology – stress, strain, and material response; brittle and ductile deformation; nomenclature and classification of folds and faults.
Crystallography – basic crystal symmetry and concept of point groups.
Mineralogy – silicate crystal structure and determinative mineralogy of common rock-forming minerals.
Petrology – Mineralogy, and classification of common igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks.
Geological time scale – geochronology and absolute time. Stratigraphic principles; major stratigraphic divisions of India. Geological and geographical distribution of mineral, coal, and petroleum resources of India.
Introduction to remote sensing. Engineering properties of rocks and soils. Groundwater geology.
Principles and applications of gravity, magnetic, electrical, electromagnetic, seismic, and radiometric methods of prospecting for oil, mineral, and groundwater; introductory good logging.
Part B (Section-1): Geology
Geomorphic processes and agents; development and evolution of landforms; slope and drainage; processes in deep oceanic and near-shore regions; quantitative and applied geomorphology.
Mechanism of rock deformation; primary and secondary structures; geometry and genesis of folds, faults, joints and unconformities; cleavage, schistosity, and lineation; methods of projection; tectonics and their significance; shear zones; superposed folding; basement cover relationship.
Crystallography – symmetry, forms, and twinning; crystal chemistry; optical mineralogy, classification of minerals, diagnostic physical and optical properties of rock-forming minerals.
Cosmic abundance of elements; meteorites; geochemical evolution of the earth; geochemical cycles; distribution of major, minor, and trace elements in crust and mantle; elements of geochemical thermodynamics; isotope geochemistry; geochemistry of waters including solution equilibria and water-rock interaction.
Igneous rocks – classification, forms, and textures; magmatic differentiation; binary and ternary phase diagrams; major and trace elements as monitors of partial melting and magma evolutionary processes.
Sedimentary rocks – texture and structure; sedimentary processes and environments, sedimentary facies, provenance, and basin analysis.
Metamorphic rocks – structures and textures.
Physicochemical conditions of metamorphism and concept of metamorphic facies, grade, and baric types; metamorphism of pelitic, mafic, and impure carbonate rocks; the role of fluids in metamorphism; metamorphic P-T-t paths and their tectonic significance. Association of igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks with the tectonic setting. Igneous and metamorphic provinces and important sedimentary basins of India.
Morphology, classification, and geological significance of important invertebrates, vertebrates, plant fossils, and microfossils.
Principles of Stratigraphy and concepts of correlation – lithostratigraphy, biostratigraphy, and chronostratigraphy.
Indian stratigraphy – Precambrian and Phanerozoic. Overview of Himalayan Geology.
Ore-mineralogy and optical properties of ore minerals; ore forming processes vis-àvis ore-rock association (magmatic, hydrothermal, sedimentary, supergene, and metamorphogenic ores); fluid inclusions as an ore genetic tool. Coal and petroleum geology; marine mineral resources. Prospecting and exploration of economic mineral deposits – sampling, ore reserve estimation, geostatistics, mining methods. Ore dressing and mineral economics. Origin and distribution of mineral, fossil, and nuclear fuel deposits in India.
Engineering properties of rocks and soils; rocks as construction materials; the role of geology in the construction of engineering structures including dams, tunnels, and excavation sites; natural hazards. Groundwater geology – exploration, well hydraulics, and water quality. Basic principles of remote sensing – energy sources and radiation principles, atmospheric absorption, the interaction of energy with earth’s surface, aerial-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 operations.
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; geomagnetic field, paleomagnetism; Geothermics and heat flow; 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, seismotectonic, and seismic hazards; digital seismographs,
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.
Absolute and relative gravity measurements; Gravimeters, Land, airborne, shipborne, and bore-hole gravity surveys; various corrections for gravity data reduction – free air, Bouguer and isostatic anomalies; density estimates of rocks;
regional and residual gravity separation; the principle of equivalent stratum; data enhancement techniques, upward and downward continuation; derivative maps, 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 – Elements of Earth’s magnetic field, units of measurement, magnetic susceptibility of rocks and measurements, magnetometers, Land, airborne, and marine magnetic surveys, Various corrections applied to magnetic data, IGRF, Reduction to Pole transformation, Poisson’s relation of gravity and magnetic potential field,
preparation of magnetic maps, upward and downward continuation, magnetic anomalies-geometrical shaped bodies, depth estimates, Image processing concepts in the processing of magnetic anomaly maps; Interpretation of processed
magnetic anomaly data. Applications of gravity and magnetic methods for mineral and oil exploration.
Conduction of electricity through rocks, electrical conductivities of metals, nonmetals, 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, ground-water exploration, mineral exploration, environmental and engineering applications.
The basic concept of EM induction in the earth, Skin-depth, elliptic polarization, in-phase and quadrature components, Various EM methods, measurements in different source-receiver configurations, Earth’s natural electromagnetic field, telluric, magnetotellurics; geomagnetic depth sounding principles, electromagnetic profiling, Time-domain EM method, EM scale modeling, processing of EM data, and interpretation. Geological applications including groundwater, mineral, 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 seismic, 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, autocorrelation, 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 good logs; well hydraulics and application of geophysical methods for groundwater study; application of borehole geophysics in groundwater, mineral, and oil exploration.
Radioactive methods of prospecting and assaying of mineral (radioactive and non-radioactive) deposits, half-life, decay constant, radioactive equilibrium, G M counter, scintillation detector, semiconductor devices, application of radiometric for exploration, assaying, and radioactive waste disposal.
Basic concepts of forward and inverse problems, Ill-posedness of inverse problems, condition number, non-uniqueness and stability of solutions; L1, L2, and Lp norms, overdetermined, underdetermined and mixed determined inverse problems, quasilinear and non-linear methods including Tikhonov’s regularization method, Singular Value Decomposition, Backus-Gilbert method, simulated annealing, genetic algorithms, and artificial neural network.
Conclusion
GATE Geology and Geophysics Syllabus consist of a plethora of topics. The syllabus is undoubtedly vast and needs proper planning to cover. Candidates are recommended to adhere to a strict timetable. They should also appear for as many mock tests as possible.
Jot down your strong and weak areas and prepare accordingly.
Good luck with all your future endeavors!
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