Course

Syllabus

Basic Geology and Geomorphology: Nature and scope of Geology; fundamental concepts. Introduction to mineralogy and types of rocks – Geological Time Scale and Stratigraphy and structures; recent trends in Geomorphology: Landforms: Endogenetic and Exogenetic. climatic and tectonic factors and rejuvenation of landforms. Geodynamics: Introduction to Geodynamics and Diastrophic movements – Epeirogenic and orogenic mountain building, Structural geology: Folds,Faults, Joints and Unconformities. Earthquakes and Seismic zonation. Continental Drift, Sea Floor Spreading, Plate Tectonics, Concept of Isostasy. Near surface Geology and processes: Types of weathering, soil formation/ profiles and mass wasting. Agents of erosion and deposition. Introduction to fluvial systems and concepts of gradation, Sea level changes and coastal landforms and evolution. Applied Geomorphology, landscape development and environmental planning. 

State of the atmosphere; Atmospheric composition, structure, Vertical thermal structure of the atmosphere; global wind patterns; Hydrostatic equilibrium; Weather phenomena – Wind, precipitation, Surface weather and vertical structure; Convection, lapse rate, concept of air parcel; atmospheric stability; saturation; lifting condensation level; clouds; Introduction to atmospheric dynamics – equations of motion; atmospheric boundary layer. global hydrologic cycle. 

Ocean : Distribution of temperature, salinity and density ; Ocean circulation; tides ; waves; coastal processes ; land-atmosphere interaction, ocean-atmosphere interaction.  

Weather phenomena – Indian monsoon system; El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO); Tropical cyclones; monsoon depressions; other systems.  

Controls of the climate system; Land-atmosphere-ocean interactions; Carbon cycle ; climatic classifications ; climatic change and variability ; climatic data  

Concept of an ecosystem: understanding ecosystem, ecosystem degradation, resource utilization. structure and functions of an ecosystem; producers, consumers and decomposers; energy and matter flow in the ecosystem: water cycle, carbon cycle, oxygen cycle, nitrogen cycle, energy cycle; food chains, food web and ecological pyramids; forest ecosystems; grassland ecosystems; desert ecosystems; aquatic ecosystems. 

Introduction to Human & Social Geography. Planning for Regional Development. Basic concepts and scope of Regional Development. Integrated area development planning (AIDP), considerations for planning of Hilly areas, Drought prone areas/ Deserts, coastal communities. Causes and consequences of regional disparities, medical geography, natural resources utilization patterns and sustainable development. 

Course Outcomes: 

CO1 : Understand the basic Geological concepts and identify Geomorphological and Geological phenomena and their impacts on human society 

CO2 : Apply the concepts of regional development and planning for sustainable futures 

CO3 : Analyze the driving forces behind atmospheric and oceanic circulation systems 

CO4 : Apply fundamental physical principles in understanding weather and climate- processes effecting dynamic changes including extreme weather events 

CO5 : Describe the components of the ecosystem and their interconnections for conservation of biodiversity and geodiversity. 

1. Chandrashekhar, A. “Basics of Atmospheric Sciences.” 280 (2010). 
2. Huggett, R. (2016). Fundamentals of geomorphology. Routledge. 
3. Masselink, G., & Hughes, M. G. (2014). An introduction to coastal processes and  Geomorphology. Routledge. 
4. Summerfield, M. A. (2014). Global geomorphology. 
5. Allen, P. A., 1997, Earth surface processes: Oxford, U.K., Blackwell Science, 404 p.  Benn, D. I., and Evans, D. J. A., 1998, Glaciers and glaciation: New York, John Wiley  and Sons, 734 p 
6. Malone, T. (Ed.). (2016). Compendium of meteorology. Springer. 
7. Wallace, J. M., & Hobbs, P. V. (2006). Atmospheric science: an introductory survey  (Vol. 92). Elsevier. 
8. Bharucha (2005), Textbook of environmental studies, Universities Press  
9. Understanding the Earth 2017 – 7th Edition [eds. IG Gass et al.] ELBS edition  
10. Physical Geology (2020) Carlson, Diane, Hammersley, Lisa, Plummer, Charles  (Carlos)  C. Publisher: MC GRAW HILL 
11. Fundamentals Of Geomorphology (2024) Richard Huggett, Emma Shuttleworth. Publisher: T&F/ ROUTLEDGE