Geological Survey of India

Geological Survey of India
overview
Formed 1851
Jurisdiction Republic of India
Headquarters Kolkata, India
Parent Government of India
Child Ministry of Mines
Website
[1]

Geological Survey of India (GSI), established in 1851 is a government organization in India which is an attached office to the Ministry of Mines of Union Government of India for conducting geological surveys and studies. It is one of the oldest of such organizations in the world and the second oldest survey in the country. GSI is the prime provider of basic earth science information to the government, industry and the general public, as well as responsive participant in international geoscientific fora. The vibrant steel, coal, metals, cement and power industries.

Contents

History

The roots of the Geological Survey of India may be traced to 1836 when a Committee, named Coal Committee, followed by more such committees, was formed by the East India Company to study and explore availability of coals in the eastern parts of India. David H(iram) Williams, one of the first surveyors for the British Geological Survey, was appointed 'Surveyor of coal districts and superintendent of coal works, Bengal' on 3rd Dec 1845 and arrived in India the following February. The phrase "Geological Survey of India" was first used in a report by one of such committees in a report in the year 1848-49. On 4 February 1848, Williams was appointed the Geological Surveyor of the Geological Survey of India but he fell off his elephant and, soon after, died with his assistant, a Mr F. B. Jones, of 'jungle fever' on 15th Nov 1848[1], after which John McClelland took over as the "Officiating Surveyor" until his retirement on 5 March 1851.

The work of the Geological Survey remained primarily exploration for coal, mainly for powering steam transport, and later oil reserves, and ore deposits. In 1852, Sir Thomas Oldham, father of Richard Dixon Oldham, broadened the ambit of the scope of functioning of the Geological Survey of India, by advancing the argument with the government that it was not possible to find coal without first mapping the geological structure of India. Thus, the Geological Survey commenced to map the rock structures and strata, and their age and relationships in India. Because the method of Radiometric dating wasn't developed at that time, the age of rock strata had to be estimated from the presence of index fossils, and consequently, much of the geologists' effort was spent in finding these index fossils.

The Geological Survey of India made important contributions to seismology by its meticulous investigations and studies and detailed reports on numerous Indian earthquakes of the 19th and early 20th century. Richard Dixon Oldham, who worked for the Geological Survey like his father, first correctly identified p- and s-waves, and hypothesized and calculated the diameter of the Earth's core.

Research

Analytical studies

  1. Initiated U-Pb Dating technique (on zircon and other U/Th-bearing accessory minerals). The oldest age of an Indian rock (Tonalite from the base of the Kotri belt, Bastar, central India), gave U-Pb (zircon) age of 3,562 ±2 Ma. A U-Pb zircon age of a migmatite, from the Nellore migmatitic domain, was determined to be ~1,700 Ma indicating a new age for migmatization in the Nellore belt.
  2. Foliated charnockite from Filchnerfjella, part of the Orvin Mountains in central Dronning Maud Land, east Antarctica, yielded a Rb-Sr whole-rock isochron age of 536±56 Ma, a new date which constrains the major tectonothermal event (D2) in the area.
  3. Zircon grain from a charnockitic suite of rock from central Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica, indicated a 207Pb/206Pb age of 520 to 600 Ma. The age data indicates a Pan - African emplacement event of the charnockitic suite.
  4. In Nellore Schist Belt, U-Pb of granitoids gave ages between 1.8-1.7 Ga while meta-volcanic rocks gave 1989 and 2041- Ma ages though samples of meta-felsic volcanics yielded Nd model ages 2280 and 2220 Ma.
  5. Pb-isotope analyses of zircons from the granitic rocks occurring in the intervening area between the Cuddapah basin and NSB, indicate a late Archaean - Palaeoproterozoic age of the granitoids (ca. 2500 Ma).
  6. A total of 10 marl samples pertaining to Kotla Dahar Lake deposits and lake deposits in the northern margin of Thar Desert, Haryana dated by radiocarbon method gave age ranging from 4884± 35yBP to 6169±36 yBP.
  7. The XRF faciiltiy: At present 27 elements, 10 major and 17 trace elements are being determined at level of 1 or 2 ppm by XRF techniques. With anticipated upgradation, several other trace elements can also be determined at a level of <1-ppm level.
  8. Several petrological investigations such as ore petrological work on selected metalliferous deposits for unravelling the environment for ore-forming process, analysis of subsurface sediments and water in arsenic-affected areas to mitigate the arsenic pollution problem are some of the studies being pursued in the Department.
  9. Study of equilibrated foreign chondrites based on petrography and mineral phase chemistry reveals that Estacado and Dokachi are strongly metamorphosed chondrites. Study of formational history of chondrules in unequilibrated chondrites in early solar system has been attempted.
  10. Petrology, petrogenesis and P – T studies of host-rock- specific Mn-ore minerals of the Sausar Belt, central India was a topic study. Detailed petro-mineralogical studies of the Nellore Schist Belt and Cuddapah (?) cover rocks have been done. Mass balance studies were carried out across zones of alteration, greisenisation, sericitisation and chloritisation within the rocks of Tosham prospect, Bhiwani district, Haryana.
  11. CBM study on samples of coal seams intersected at different boreholes in Rajmahal – Birbhum Master Basin has indicated that the gas content ranges from 1.39 to 8.6 cum/ton. Comparative study of genetic aspects of gold deposits of Karnataka through fluid inclusion studies has revealed the presence of two types of gold deposits, – vein-associated deposits mainly in metavolcanic rocks and stratiform–stratabound deposits in banded iron formation.

Paleontology

  1. Continued search for dinosaur remains in the late Cretaceous Mahadek Formation around Dirang, Meghalaya resulted in unearthing of more dinosaurian postcranial bones including ilium, scapula and fibula.
  2. Continued research work on the fossil-bearing Lameta Formation and the intertrappeans of central India unearthed dinosaur nests with megalolithic eggs attributable to the genus Titanosaurus and an axis of titanosauriforms – the latter being the first report of its kind.Glimpses of Geoscience Research in India 294 14. Most significant discovery is the snake fossil in association with dinosaur eggs and hatchling from the late Cretaceous Lameta Formation of Kheda district, Gujarat.
  3. Multivariate statistics and discriminant analysis of the Middle Jurassic brachiopod population of Jaisalmer Basin, Rajasthan, revealed two new species of the fleeting genus Cryptorhyncia in the Bathonian. Another brachiopod genus Plectoidothyris, so far reported from the Bajocian of Great Britain only, has been recorded from the Bathonian in this basin.

Other studies

  1. All-India earthquake database has been updated up to the year 2001 incorporating 1347 events. A total of 17,483 events have been registered so far in the database within the territory covered by latitude 0-37° N and longitude 68°-98° E.
  2. Study of fluorosis endemicity was carried out in parts of Jhansi and Sonbhadra districts, U.P. and assessment of As incidence in Bhojpur dt., Bihar.
  3. Detailed glaciological studies on Hamta glacier, Lahaul and Spiti districts (H.P) have been carried out to monitor the maximum and minimum ablation. In general the bare ice shows about 19% higher ablation than the covered ice, both at lower and middle altitudes. Glacier inventory of Thatte, Saltoro, Sumdo, Fasten Nubra and Rangdo basins of Ladakh district of J&K, have identified 108 glaciers in Saltoro basin, 366 glaciers in Sumdo basin and 82 glaciers in Fasten basin. The total glaciated areas are 40.5%, 14.02% and 6.89% in Saltoro, Fasten and Sumdo basins, respectively.
  4. Studies in the Bhagirathi River delta were undertaken to understand the distribution pattern of arsenic in the shallow-aquifer sediments. The studies reveal several small curvilinear patches of flood plains that always yield high arsenic value in shallow aquifers. The other areas such as flood plains of other rivers occasionally yield higher arsenic value in shallow aquifer.
  5. Global warming has become an issue which is worrying mankind across the world. Reports of recession of glaciers, changes in volume of water flowing along major rivers have sent warning signals to scientists and administrators. Geological Survey of India is actively engaged in the field of glacier regimes studies involving glacier mass balance, glacier flow, hydrometry, suspended-sediment transport, microclimatic parameters, secular movement and geomorophology of selected representative glaciers in the states of Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh. These studies would help to monitor the possible effects of warming, if any. Detailed glaciological studies for last six years (2000–2006) on Hamtah glacier, Lahaul- Spiti district, H.P. indicated that it has evacuated an area of 0.0259 km2 with an average value of 0.0043 km2/year.

Information processing and dissemination

  1. GSI Net remains one of the thrust areas in the field of IT. Local Area Network (LAN) is under progress at all the Regions and Central Headquarters.
  2. The project GSI Portal envisaged knowledge management and business process integration through intranet and extranet.
  3. GSI Web site (www.gsi.gov.in) disseminates updated information including recent findings.

Human resource development

Training programmes encompassing Orientation Course for Geologists, Basic Courses, Refresher Courses, workshops, Advanced Course, INDIGEO Programmes, and ISRO- and DST-sponsored programmes were successfully completed. GSI also coordinates Indian activities related to IGCP programmes and uses this as a vehicle to enhance the human resource potential of the country.

Geological parks

Saketi Fossil Park

Main article: Saketi Fossil Park

Saketi Fossil Park is 5 km from Kala Amb, (its 85 km from Chandigarh, 65 km from Ambala, 22 km from Nahan, 110 km from Dehradun) There is a small fossil museum showcasing fossilized remnants (skulls, teeth, jaws etc.) of various animal groups like mammals, reptiles, fishes and esp mammals that lived around Siwalik Hills area about 2.5 to 1 million years ago. The park also displays (in open) nicely made life size fiber glass models of six pre-historic animals which roamed around Siwalik Hills area, including 18 feet tusked elephant, 3 meter giant land turtle among others.

See also

References

  1. ^ Allen's Indian Mail Vol VII No 117 London Monday, 22 January 1849 p41

External links