IIT-JAM GEOLOGY SYLLABUS

The Planet Earth 

Origin of the Solar System and the Earth; Internal structure, composition, and age of the Earth; Pressure-temperature-density variations within the Earth; Principles of radiometric dating (Rb-Sr, Sm-Nd, ¹⁴C); Volcanism and volcanic landforms; Earthquakes; Earth’s magnetism and gravity, Isostasy; Concepts of Plate Tectonics and orogeny.

Geomorphology

Weathering, erosion, deposition; Endogenous and exogenous processes of landform development; Soil formation; River and drainage basin/drainage pattern, network characteristics; Fluvial, aeolian, marine, glacial and karst landforms.

Structural Geology 

Concept of dip, strike, rake and plunge; Contour lines; Rule of ‘V’s and outcrop patterns; Interpretation of geological maps; Cross-section construction; Classification and origin of folds, faults, joints, unconformities, foliations and lineations; Stereographic and equal-area projections of planes and lines; Quantitative interpretation of structures, outcrops, and bore-hole data.

Paleontology

Major stages in the evolution of life forms; Fossils and their mode of preservation; Application of macrofossils in age determination and paleoenvironmental interpretations; Morphology, major evolutionary trends and ages of important groups of invertebrates– Brachiopoda, Mollusca, Trilobita, Echinodermata; Gondwana plant fossils; Vertebrate fossils (Equidae, Proboscidea) in India.

Stratigraphy

Principles of stratigraphy; Litho-, chrono- and bio-stratigraphic classification; Stratigraphic correlation techniques; Archaean cratons of Peninsular India (Dharwar, Singhbhum and Aravalli); Proterozoic mobile belts; Stratigraphy of Cuddapah and Vindhyan basins; Stratigraphy of Paleozoic– Mesozoic of Spiti and Kashmir, Gondwana Supergroup, Jurassic of Kutch, Cretaceous of Trichinopoly, Cenozonic sequences of Assam, Bengal and Siwaliks.

Mineralogy

Symmetry and forms in common crystal classes; Miller indices; Twinning and twinning laws; Isomorphism, polymorphism, solid solution and exsolution; Elements of Optical Mineralogy; Classification, structure, chemistry, physical, and optical properties of common rock-forming minerals.

Petrology

Igneous rocks– classification and texture; Forms of igneous bodies; Evolution and diversification of magma; Use of binary systems to understand melting and crystallization behaviour of rocks and magmas; Genesis of common igneous rocks and associations.

Sedimentary rocks– classification, texture, and structure; Petrology of sandstone and limestone; Basics of sedimentary environments and facies.

Metamorphic rocks– classification and texture; Types of metamorphism; Controls on metamorphism– pressure, temperature and fluids; Concept of projections– ACF, AKF and AFM diagrams; Phase Rule and its applications; Concepts of zones and facies, Characteristic mineral assemblages of pelites in the Barrovian zones and mafic rocks in common facies.

Economic Geology

Physical properties of common economic minerals; Processes of formations of ore mineral deposits-magmatic concentration, hydrothermal processes, oxidation and supergene sulphide enrichment, residual and mechanical concentration; Mode of occurrence and distribution of metallic and non-metallic mineral deposits in India; Ore grade and reserve estimation; Coal and hydrocarbon geology and their Indian occurrences.

Applied Geology

Basics of groundwater geology; Types of aquifers, porosity and permeability; Groundwater flow; Principles of engineering geology; Geological considerations in construction of dams and tunnels; Basics of remote sensing.


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