Department of Geology

History

Established in the year 1916, the Department of Geology, University of Calcutta has set a standard in teaching and research in Geology. The students of this Department have made their mark in academic, professional and scientific spheres in India and abroad. As the horizon of Geology expanded into the sphere of Earth Systems Science, the Department has started the process of incorporating the newer disciplines in its academic curriculum.

The Department has introduced the new curriculum ( M.Sc. in Applied Geology) in 2005, and takes great satisfaction that the syllabus suggested by the UGC Afterwards has similar emphasis. The Department has included the interdisciplinary subjects like Remote Sensing and GIS, Environmental Geology, Hydrogeology, Geology of Coal and Petroleum, Basin analysis, Geomathematics, Mineral resources and management, Mineral Exploration and Geotechnical Engineering etc. An attempt has been made to maintain a balance between the fundamental disciplines and the newer branches to equip the students with the necessary skills to match the newer, more stringent requirements of the academia and the highly competitive job-market.

This  is  not  a  very  easy  transition,  in   terms   of   personnel, teaching  material,  research  equipment  and also in temperament. While starting its search to locate new, young members of faculty to take up these subjects, the Department has encouraged the existing members to make a start by updating themselves. Keeping with the solid tradition in teaching, the faculty members are acquiring the necessary skill by interacting with the professional institutions and attending orientation/ refresher courses.

To sustain such an effort this Department has identified by DST-FIST (Govt. of India) and received Rs.62 lakhs for installing modern computer and microscope Laboratories.

At present our Department is making full use of these two newly laboratories. The primary emphasis is obviously on teaching in the classroom and also in the field. For years, the students of this Department have shown their excellence in two of the fundamental skills of routine investigations in Geology: field geology ranging from stratigraphy to structural mapping, and application of microscopes. The expertise of highly experienced faculty members of this Department has recently been utilized by the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation when they (ONGC scientists) have collaborated with this Department during the laboratory analyses of Bengal basin offshore samples (WB-OS-1).

The Departmental library, also used by the professionals and academicians of Kolkata, needs a boost up to maintain the journal subscriptions and to acquire new volumes to support the new curriculum. The sample of rocks, minerals, and fossils collected over the years is a treasure-trove.

Infrastructural up gradation will benefit the research activity. The history of the Department proves that good teaching paves the path of good research. In addition to their commitments to teaching the faculty-members have all along maintained a good standard in research. Their participation in different forums, contributions in journals and in form of books and edited volumes reflect their research activity. Besides Workshops, symposia, seminars etc are organized by different faculty members of this Department in regular intervals.

The UNIVERSITY OF CALCUTTA was established in 1857
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THOMAS OLDHAM of G.S.I. was a founder fellow
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DEPARTMENT OF GEOLOGY was established in 1916 and was housed in Presidency College, College Street. It moved to the present Campus in 1964
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E.W. VREDENBURG of G.S.I. was the first professor
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K.K. SENGUPTA was the first Indian teacher
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PAST ILLUSTRIOUS TEACHERS OF THE DEPARTMENT:
H. C. Dasgupta, S.L. Biswas, N.N. Chatterjee, S. Ray, S. Sen, S. K. Raychaudhury, A.N. Chaudhury, A. De, I. Banerjee
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The glorious tradition of expertise in professional and academic fields is evidenced by the achievements of the ALUMNI of the DEPARTMENT
Fellow, Indian National Science Academy - 12
Winner, WADIA medal of INSA -2.
Winner, K.NAHA medal of INSA – 2
Winner, Asiatic Society Medal- 4
Winner, Kamalkumari award- 1
Winner, S.S. BHATNAGAR Award in Earth, Atmosphere
and Marine Sciences, the highest award from the CSIR - 3 
Vice-Chancellors of Three Universities
Director, Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad
Director, Central Fuel Research Institute, Dhanbad
Director, K.D. Malviya Institute of Petroleum Exploration, O.N.G.C. - 3
Member, Oil and Natural Gas Commission - 1 Director, Atomic Minerals Division -1
Director General, Geological Survey of India – 4

THE DEPARTMENT OF GEOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF CALCUTTA, also hosts the age-old “The Geological, Mining and Metallurgical Society of India”, the mouth piece of the socity is the Quaterly Journal of the Geological, Mining and Metallurgical Society of India(later renamed as Indian  Journal of Geology) which publishes scientific research papers in several domains of Earth Sciences.

1. Professor Jyotisankar Ray: Assessing the role of plume-head for continent-generation in the Khasi Greenstone belt of Meghalaya, North Eastern India    (DST, India)

2. Dr Saugata Datta: Geochemical and Hydrological Assessment of arsenic contamination of groundwaters of Bangladesh (National Science Foundation, USA)

3. Dr Santanu Bose: Physics of the development of different structures in Earth’s lithosphere: Natural Examples and Experimental Studies (DST, India)

4. Dr Abdul Matin: GPS studies in the Darjeeling-Sikkim Himalays: Co-Investigator (DST, India)

5. DST- FIST grant- Received by our Dept in March 2005 (Total grant sanctioned Rs. 62  lakhs).

6. Ongoing  CUIIPP projects -Laboratory analyses of Bengal Basin Offshore samples in collaboration with  Oil and Natural Gas corporation of India.

7. UGC - DRS Grant: Coordinator: Prof A. Mitra, Completed on 31st March 2006

8. DST-Book Writing Projects: Dr B.K. Chakraborti, Prof C. Bhattacharyya and Prof A.K. Ghosh

9. INSA-Emiritus Scientist Scheme, Prof D. Mukhopadhyay

10. DST Woman Scientist Projects: Microstructure and fabric development in shear zone rocks in part of Precambrian terrain of Eastern Singhbhum, by  Dr. Ratna Das.

11. DST Woman Scientist Project: : On tourmaline chemistry by Dr. Nandini Sengupta.

1. Dr. Chang Hwa Chen, Professor of Institute of Earth Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taipei (Taiwan): The Toba tuff in the Indian Ocean and Peninsular India: as a clue for Acheulian puzzle.
2. Dr. Murari Mohan Mukherjee, former Deputy Director General of Geological Survey of India: P. N. Dutta Memorial Lecture on PGE Mineralization in oldest ultramafic- mafic intrusions, Eastern India.
3. Professor E. G. Lidiak of the University of Pittsburgh, U. S. A:
• Large Igneous Province: Cambrian Diabase Dykes, Eastern Arbuckle Mountains, Oklahama, U. S. A.
• Geology and Geochemistry of the North Eastern Antilles Island Arc System: Development of the Caribbean Plate.
4. Dr. Saugata Dutta of the University of Calcutta: Hydrological and Geochemical Investigation of Arsenic Contamination of Groundwater at sites in Bangladesh- A Water Initiative Study.
5. Mr. Biswajit Basu of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, Kolkata: Climate Change, Global Warming and CO2 Sequestration. 
6. Professor Abhijit Basu of Indiana University, U. S. A: Origin of Fe0 Globules in the Lunar Regolith: Theories and Experiments.
7. Dr. Abhijit Mukherjee of University of Texas: Is deeper ground water of the Arsenic affected Western Bengal Basin, India: A safe drinking water source? – A contradiction of existing hypothesis.
8. Dr. Himadri Banerjee, Sr. Vice- President of Hindalco Industries Limited, Kolkata: What is world class mining and various roles of professionals involved in it.
9. National workshop cum training program on “Recent developments in techniques to constrain petrogenesis of Igneous Rocks” from December 26, 2006 to January 08, 2007 (Coordinator: Prof. Jyotisankar Ray).