Geology

Jammu and Kashmir Public Services Commission (JKPSC)
Lecturer (10+2) Geology
Subject / Paper: Geology
Exam Cycle: 2025
Exam Type: Pen-and-Paper (OMR Based)
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COURSE OVERVIEW
Exam Name: Lecturer (10+2) Geology
Conducting Authority: Jammu and Kashmir Public Services Commission (JKPSC)
Level: Competitive
Examination Type: MCQs
No. of Questions: 100 MCQs
Total Marks: 100 Marks
Duration: 2 Hours
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LIST OF UNITS (Verbatim)
Unit I: Physical Geology
Unit II: Structural Geology and Global Tectonics
Unit III: Paleobiology and Stratigraphy
Unit IV: Sedimentology
Unit V: Mineralogy and Geochemistry
Unit VI: Crystallography
Unit VII: Geophysics
Unit VIII: Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology
Unit IX: Ore, Fuel & Exploration Geology
Unit X: Tectonic Geomorphology
Unit XI: Hydrogeology
Unit XII: Remote Sensing and GIS
Unit XIII: Engineering & Environmental Geology
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UNIT-WISE DETAILED SYLLABUS (Verbatim)

Unit I: Physical Geology

Topic 1: Earth and solar system: origin, size, shape, mass, density and its atmosphere.
Topic 2: A brief account of various theories regarding the origin and age of the Earth.
Topic 3: Brief idea of interior of earth and its composition.
Topic 4: Concept of Catastrophism and uniformitarianism.
Topic 5: Weathering and erosion: factors, types and their effects; agents and products of weathering; Mass wasting and factors affecting mass wasting.
Topic 6: Epeirogenesis and orogenesis.
Topic 7: Oceans, Topography of sea floor (Continental shelves, slope, abyssal plains, Ocean ridges and, submarine valleys, canyons, deep-sea trenches and guyots).
Topic 8: Oceanic erosion and deposition.
Topic 9: Coral reefs, types fringing, barrier and atolls.
Topic 10: Volcanoes- Causes, types, distribution and eruptional features.
Topic 11: Basic principles of Geomorphology, geomorphological cycles, Geological work of wind, river, underground water and ocean and their erosional and depositional features.
Topic 12: Glaciers, Definition and types, snowline, geological work of glaciers and its erosional and depositional features.
Topic 13: Drainage patterns Karst topography.
Topic 14: Climate and landforms, humid, sub-humid, arid, semi-arid.
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Unit II: Structural Geology and Global Tectonics

Topic 1: Concept of stress and strain and their geological significance, Mechanics of folding and buckling.
Topic 2: Faults and dynamics of faulting, Planer and linear fabrics in deformed rocks,Joints, classification of joints and unconformity and its types.
Topic 3: Concept of petrofabrics and symmetry, Interpretation of fabric data on microscopic and mesoscopic scale.
Topic 4: Geometrical analysis of simple and complex structures on macroscopic scale.
Topic 5: Internal structure of the Earth, Plate tectonics and mountain building.
Topic 6: Models of mountain building, Collision tectonics.
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Unit III: Paleobiology and Stratigraphy

Topic 1: Modern concepts of origin of life, Precambrian fossil record and origin of Metazoa.
Topic 2: Taphonomy and Fossil communities.
Topic 3: Principles of biostratigraphy.
Topic 4: Methods and techniques in Paleontology.
Topic 5: Morphology and evolutionary trends in Ammonoids, Brachiopods, Graptolites and Trilobites.
Topic 6: Morphology, classification, and evolutionary trends of Foraminifera, Ostracodes and Conodonts, their ecological and geological significance.
Topic 7: Sequence of plant life through geological time.
Topic 8: An account of Gondwana plant fossils of India with respect to paleoclimatic conditions.
Topic 9: Morphology and applications of spores and pollens.
Topic 10: Landmarks in the evolution of vertebrates, Extinction of Dinosaurs, Siwalik vertebrates, Phylogeny of Equidae and proboscidae.
Topic 11: Faunal change with respect to tectonic and climate changes.
Topic 12: Human evolution,
Topic 13: Principals of stratigraphy, Stratigraphic classification, International Code of stratigraphic nomenclature, Concept of stratigraphic facies, Stratigraphic correlation, Graphic representation of stratigraphic data, seismic stratigraphy, ,,Magnetostratigraphy.
Topic 14: Precambrian- Cambrian, Permian-Triassic, Cretaceous-Tertiary, and Pliocene Pleistocene boundary problems, in stratigraphy; Paleogeography, paleoclimate, igneous and mountain building activities in the Indian subcontinent from Late Cretaceous.
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Unit IV: Sedimentology

Topic 1: Sedimentary processes, Sedimentary structures and Textures, Use of textures and structures in sediment dispersal and basin studies.
Topic 2: Classification of sediments, heavy minerals.
Topic 3: Classification, Environment of deposition, provenance and diagenesis of sandstones, carbonates and mudstones.
Topic 4: Sedimentary environments:- Classification, lithologies, structures and vertical sequences formed in alluvial, deltaic, coastal, and deep sea, glacial and aeolian environments.
Topic 5: Concept of sedimentary facies, Walters law of facies and application, Sedimentary cycles and cyclothems, Facies models and environmental reconstruction.
Topic 6: Scalar properties and paleocurrents, Paleogeographic reconstruction, and basin analysis, Sedimentation and tectonics, Basin evolution in relation to plate tectonics.
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Unit V: Mineralogy and Geochemistry

Topic 1: Internal symmetry in crystals; Twinning and twin laws; Pauling’s rule, ionic substitution and crystalline solutions, Polymorphism and pseudomorphism, Exsolution, Non-crystalline minerals (mineraloids).
Topic 2: Concept and application of optical indicatrix and interference phenomenon.
Topic 3: Orthoscopic and conoscopic study of minerals.
Topic 4: Optic figure, optic sign, dispersion, pleochroism and absorption.
Topic 5: Determinative methods of Refractive index.
Topic 6: Pleochroic scheme and 2V microscopic methods.
Topic 7: Axiality and optic sign,
Topic 8: Systematic mineralogy of silicates, sulphides, oxides, hydroxides and carbonates.
Topic 9: Geochemical classification of elements, Trace Element Geochemistry and concepts of partitioning and distribution coefficients of trace elements vis-à-vis partial melting and magma generation.
Topic 10: Distribution of REE in earth’s mantle and crust.
Topic 11: Isotope geochemistry, decay mechanism and growth of isotopes; Geochronological applications of Rb-Sr, K-Ar, U-Th-Pb and Sm-Nd systematics Stable isotope geochemistry of oxygen and hydrogen.
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Unit VI: Crystallography

Topic 1: Introduction to crystallography, Morphology of crystals, Face, edge and solid angle, interfacial angle and their measurements;Law of constancy of interfacial angles;
Topic 2: Crystallographic axes and angles.
Topic 3: Crystal parameters, Weiss and Miller system of notations.
Topic 4: Law of Rationality of indices.
Topic 5: Crystal growth and twining: Growth of crystals from solutions and from a melt under controlled conditions, crystal growth in open fractures, solution cavities and vesicles.
Topic 6: Symmetry elements and description of normal class of Isometric, Tetragonal, Hexagonal, Trigonal, Orthorhombic, Monoclinic and Triclinic systems.
Topic 7: Crystal chemistry: Dimorphism, polymorphism, pseudomorphism, isomorphism and solid solution.
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Unit VII: Geophysics

Topic 1: Introduction and scope of geophysics; Spheroidal shape of earth and Geoid, magnetic field of the earth, paleomagnetism.
Topic 2: Exploring Earth’s interior with geophysical techniques.
Topic 3: Applications of geophysics in mineral and energy resources exploration.
Topic 4: Earth’s thermal history, Heat conduction and heat flow.
Topic 5: Gravitational Field, Concept, its variability with latitude, altitude, topography, and subsurface density variations.
Topic 6: Gravity instruments: Pendulum gravimeters, Ship borne measurements.
Topic 7: Units of gravity, gravity anomaly – definition, types (Free- air, Bouguer), local and regional concepts.
Topic 8: Detection of cavities at engineering sites.
Topic 9: Isostasy, Observation; Pratt and Airy schemes of the isostatic compensation, elastic crust on viscous mantle.
Topic 10: Earthquake and Seismic waves, their intensity and magnitude scale.
Topic 11: Origin of earthquake.
Topic 12: Basic features of seismographs; Magnitude and intensity of an earthquake; Types of earthquakes.
Topic 13: Induced seismicity, Neotectonics.
Topic 14: Earthquake location: Focus, epicentre and hypocentre; Earthquake belts.
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Unit VIII: Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology

Topic 1: Magma nature and cooling behavior, volatiles in silicate melts.
Topic 2: Forms of Igneous rocks; textures of igneous rocks; Classification schemes of igneous rocks; Phase equilibria: Unary, binary and ternary systems.
Topic 3: Genesis and tectonic setting of different Magma Types; Application of major and trace elements (including REE) and Sr-, Pb-, and Nd-isotopes studies in deciphering Magma generation, mantle-crust interactions and tectonic environments.
Topic 4: Detailed petrographic description of Granite, Granodiorite, Rhyolite, Syenite, Phonolite, Diorite, Gabbro.
Topic 5: Metamorphism and metamorphic processes, Metamorphic differentiation, Metamorphic facies and systematic description of regional and thermal metamorphism of pelitic, basic-ultra-basic and calcareous rocks.
Topic 6: Metamorphic reactions and their implications to geothermobarometry.
Topic 7: Metasomatism and anataxis; Regional metamorphism and paired metamorphic belts in reference to plate tectonics.
Topic 8: P-T-t paths.
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Unit IX: Ore, Fuel & Exploration Geology

Topic 1: Processes of the formation of ore deposits; Magmatic, metasomatic, hydrothermal, sedimentary types of deposits.
Topic 2: Principal mechanism of formation of the igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic mineral deposits, weathering and placer deposits.
Topic 3: Ore deposits and plate tectonics,
Topic 4: Mineral economics and national mineral policy in relation to strategic, critical and essential minerals; Ore Microscopy and quantitative methods in ore microscopy;
Topic 5: Microchemical studies of ore minerals, Fluid inclusions in ore.
Topic 6: Study of important metallic (Cu, Pb, Zn Mn, Fe, Au, Al) and non-metallic (industrial) minerals (gypsum, magnesite, mica).
Topic 7: Origin and occurrence of petroleum, Migration and accumulation of petroleum, Reservoir rocks and traps.
Topic 8: Petroliferous basins of India.
Topic 9: Rank and grade of coal; Origin of kerogen and coal.
Topic 10: Geological and geographical distribution of coal deposits in India with emphasis on Gondwana coal fields.
Topic 11: Atomic minerals and mode of occurrence of atomic minerals in nature.
Topic 12: Atomic minerals as source of energy and productive atomic mineral geological horizons in India.
Topic 13: Principles and methodology of geological prospecting for economic minerals and rocks, sampling methods, reserve estimation, grade and tonnage calculation of the deposits.
Topic 14: Mining methods.
Topic 15: Concept of geochemical dispersion and pathfinder elements, geochemical sampling and geochemical field techniques.
Topic 16: Principle, procedure, equipments used and applicability of gravimetric, Magnetic, electrical, seismic and radiometric geophysical methods, Aerial geophysical surveys.
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Unit X: Tectonic Geomorphology

Topic 1: Geomorphological cycle, Soils and classification of soils,
Topic 2: Morphometric analysis of drainage basins, Relationship of morphometric parameters with discharge and sediment yield characters of basins, Morphometric evolution of western Himalayas,
Topic 3: Tectonic Geomorphology, Energetics, Active Tectonics & Models of landscape development; Controversies in tectonic geomorphology.
Topic 4: Geomorphic Markers.
Topic 5: Landform dating techniques,
Topic 6: Geomorphic Expression of Faults; field techniques in paleoseismology, Direct and indirect observations of paleoseismic displacements, Paleoseismic landforms, Use of liquefaction induced features and landslides for paleoseismic analysis.
Topic 7: Quaternary cycles of climate change and their effect on landforms.
Topic 8: Geomorphic sub-divisions of Indian subcontinent and their geomorphic features and evolution with special reference to Himalayas.
Topic 9: Landslides, Settlement and subsidence, slope modification and reinforcement, instruments for monitoring slope movements.
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Unit XI: Hydrogeology

Topic 1: Groundwater table and Groundwater table fluctuations and controlling factors.
Topic 2: Subsurface inflow and outflow; Periods of recharge and discharge.
Topic 3: Average groundwater fluctuations, effluent and influent streams.
Topic 4: Elementary theory of groundwater flow: Darcy’s law and its range of validity.
Topic 5: Steady and unsteady flow.
Topic 6: Porosity and permeability transmissivity, storage coefficient and methods of determination.
Topic 7: Water table maps and flow net analysis; differential equation for controlling groundwater flow.
Topic 8: Steady, unsteady and radial flow into a well.
Topic 9: Confined and leaky confined and unconfined aquifers.
Topic 10: Determination of aquifer characteristics from pump-tests.
Topic 11: Groundwater exploration resistivity, magnetic and seismic geophysical methods.
Topic 12: Borehole geophysical logging-electrical, resistivity and SP; Radiation logging-gamma, gamma-gamma, and neutron logging. Clipper and temperature logging.
Topic 13: Preparation of strata charts, Design of tube well assembly and water well design criteria .
Topic 14: Water level development and yield tests.
Topic 15: Groundwater modeling techniques.
Topic 16: Groundwater basin management methods: Basic ideas of groundwater management.
Topic 17: Water logging and artificial recharge.
Topic 18: Fresh and saltwater relationship in coastal areas.
Topic 19: Groundwater quality analysis.
Topic 20: Quality criteria for drinking, irrigation and industrial purposes.
Topic 21: Pollution of groundwater.
Topic 22: Groundwater and hydro-chemical provinces of India.
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Unit XII: Remote Sensing and GIS

Topic 1: Concepts of remote sensing, electromagnetic radiations, matter interactions with atmosphere and terrain, reflectance, absorptance and transmittance, spectral reflectance of vegetation, soils minerals and rocks, scattering processes, basic elements of visual image interpretation, principles of image interpretation, verification and validation of RS data.
Topic 2: Picture element and image statistics, preprocessing of satellite data: geometrical corrections of satellite data, image enhancements, types of enhancements, filtering of images, digital image classification: Supervised and unsupervised classifications.
Topic 3: Sources of errors and measurement of map accuracy, kappa coefficient.
Topic 4: Applications of remote sensing earth sciences, environmental sciences, surveying, hydrological modelling, groundwater prospecting,
Topic 5: Geographic Information System (GIS) Components of GIS, GIS software packages, Concept and types of information, integration of spatial and non spatial data, raster and vector data models, geospatial analysis for disaster management with case studies on landslides and floods, GIS for environmental applications like lake management and soil mapping.
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Unit XIII: Engineering & Environmental Geology

Topic 1: Engineering properties and classification of rocks.
Topic 2: Factors affecting engineering services of rocks.
Topic 3: Engineering properties of soils.
Topic 4: Soil liquefaction and creep.
Topic 5: Stress distribution in soil and foundation failure.
Topic 6: Geological consideration for evaluation of dams, reservoir and tunnel sites, Foundation evaluation techniques.
Topic 7: Influence of geological conditions on foundation and design of buildings.
Topic 8: Fundamental concepts of environmental geosciences.
Topic 9: General relationship between landscape, climate and biomass.
Topic 10: Geosciences factor in environmental planning.
Topic 11: Earth processes and geological hazards with reference to floods, landslides, earthquakes, volcanism, and avalanches.
Topic 12: Cenozoic climate extremes, their impact on evolution of life especially on human evolution.
Topic 13: Energy resources and environment, Environmental effects associated with exploitation of hydrocarbons, coal and atomic minerals.
Topic 14: Concept of health geochemistry.
Topic 15: Natural chemical anomalies.
Topic 16: Radon emission and health.
Topic 17: Geological controls on radon emission levels.
Topic 18: Radon emission survey.
Topic 19: Use of geochemical maps in land use planning.
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EXAM STRUCTURE / SCHEME OF EXAMINATION
(Only if explicitly provided in the uploaded document)
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SYLLABUS SUMMARY (Auto-Generated)
• Total Units: 13
• Total Topics: 143
• Exam: Lecturer (10+2) Geology
• Subject: Geology
• Exam Year: 2025
✓ Extracted verbatim from the official uploaded document