Geophysics Department

Banaras Hindu University

SEMESTER-III

GPM301: SEISMOLOGY Credits: 4

1. Introduction to earthquake phenomena, concept of focus, focal depth, epicentre, great Indian earthquakes, intensity and magnitude scales and energy of earthquakes, foreshocks and aftershocks, elastic rebound theory, seismicity of India, Himalayas and global seismicity, seismic zonation, seismic micro-zonation, seismic zoning of India, induced seismicity, concept of inhomogeneity and anisotropy, types and causes of earthquakes.

2. Seismic ray theory for spherically stratified earth and velocity structure from travel time data, propagation and characteristics of body waves, surface waves, group and phase velocities, different phases of body waves and their applications, preparation of preliminary reports and identification of phases, determination of epicentre, focal depth and magnitudes, theory of elasticity, reflection of body waves, focal mechanism solutions and tectonic implications, earthquake generation models, hazard analysis, reflection of seismic waves from the free surface.

3. Principle of electromagnetic seismograph, displacement meters, velocity meter, accelerometer and strain meter seismographs, WWSSN stations, seismic arrays for detection of nuclear explosions, wideband seismometry, strong motion seismograph.

Suggested Books:

1. Richter: Elementary Seismology

2. Bullen & Bolt: An Introduction to the Theory of Seismology

3. Agrawal: Engineering Seismology

4. Gutenberg: Internal Constitution of the Earth

5. Rikitake: Earthquake Prediction

6. Bath: Introduction to Seismology

7. Slawomir & Andrezej: An introduction to Mining Seismology

8. Stein & Wysession: An Introduction to Seismology, Earthquakes and Earth structure

GPM302A: GEOELECTRICAL METHODS Credits: 4

1. General: Electrical properties of rocks & minerals and their determinations, fundamentals of direct current flow, relationship between point and line pole potential distribution.

2. Measuring System: Quantities measured in various electrical methods and description of the instruments used, discussion of various configurations used in electrical method and field procedure adopted.

3. D.C. Resistivity Methods: Potential distribution at the surface of horizontally stratified earth, Kernel function and its relation to the subsurface parameters, apparent resistivity function, computation of apparent resistivity model curves, principle of digital linear filtering.

4. Vertical Electrical Sounding: Interpretation of resistivity VES data, empirical methods for interpretation of resistivity sounding data, indirect interpretation techniques, auxiliary point method, partial curve matching, complete curve matching, direct interpretation techniques, automatic direct interpretation method, Dar Zarrouk parameters, inversion techniques in resistivity method of interpretation, computer-aided resistivity data interpretation (softwares), principles of equivalence, suppression and detectibility problems, effects of deviations from the fundamental assumptions, electrical resistivity imaging.

5. Electrical Profiling: Profiling near a vertical contact and thin vertical dykes and discussion of the expected apparent resistivity curves.

6. Self Potential Method: Mechanism of SP field techniques, field due to vertically polarized sphere and interpretation.

7. Induced Polarized Method: Mechanism of IP instruments and principles of measurements both in time and frequency domain, interpretation of IP.

8. Other methods: Principles, application and interpretation of potential drop ratio method, equipotential lines method and telluric current methods.

Suggested Books:

  1. Bhattacharya & Patra: D.C. Geoelectric Sounding: Principles and Interpretation
  2. Kuntez: Principles of Direct Current Resistivity Prospecting
  3. Keller & Frischknecht: Electrical Methods in Geophysical Prospecting
  4. Nostrand & Cook: Interpretation of Resistivity Data
  5. Wait: Over-voltage Research and geophysical application
  6. Koefoed: Geosounding Principe-I: Resistivity Sounding Measurements
  7. Patra & Nath: Schlumberger Geoelectric Sounding in Ground Water
  8. Ghosh: The Application of Linear Filter theory to the Direct Interpretation of Geoelectrical Resistivity Measurements

GPM302B: AGRICULTURAL METEOROLOGY Credits: 4

  1. Meaning and scope of agricultural meteorology, Intent and extent of agricultural meteorology, plant physiology, long term and short term modifications of growth process, avoidable and unavoidable dangers.
  2. Agrometeorological observations: Air, surface and soil temperature, air and soil humidity, wind, precipitation, sunshine, radiation intensity and microclimatic measurements.
  3. Solar Radiation and Plants: Reflection, transmission and absorption, incoming, outgoing and net radiation, Spectral distribution of solar radiation and physiological response to plants, Light distribution in canopy, Phototropism and Photoperiodism: Meteorological factors in photosynthesis.
  4. Environmental Temperature and Plants: Effect of low and high ambient temperature, growing degree days and other heat indices, soil temperature and factors affecting them, thermal properties of soil, Cardinal temperatures, soil moisture and its measurement, weekly water balance, water use and plant growth, evaporation and evapotranspiration, wind effect on evapotranspiration, wind damage to plants, transportation of pollen disease and insects by winds, wind profile near ground.
  5. Climatic Requirements of Important Crops: Rice, wheat, cotton, soyabean and sugarcane, pearlmilet, groundnut and mustard.
  6. Plant and Crop Diseases: The effect of weather on pathogenic agents- Insects, Fungi, Bacteria, Bacilli and Virus, combating plant diseases, natural and artificial methods, the integrated campaign, insect against insects, Bacteria and Bacilli against insect, Virus against Insects, effect of weather on the host.
  7. Meteorological Hazards and Agriculture: Frost and frost fighting methods, hail damage and hail modification method, wind damage and wind breakers, Agricultural drought, its severity and management, flood, flood damage and flood fighting.
  8. Soils: Composition, structure and physical properties of soils, simple classification of soils, soil air, soil erosion, soil improvement devices and drainage.
  9. Agrometeorological forecasts systems, short, medium and long range forecasts, yield forecasts model, system stimulation its concept, application and importance.
  1. A brief outline of remote sensing in agriculture.

Suggested Books:

  1. Smith: Methods in Agricultural Meteorology
  2. Seemann et. al.: Agrometeorology
  3. Vitchewich: Agrometeorology
  4. WMO Compendium of lecture notes
  5. Mavi: Introduction to Agrometeorology

GPM303A: SEISMIC METHODS Credits: 4

1. Historical development and background of refraction and reflection methods. Difference between refraction and reflection surveys. System of observations for reflection and refraction surveys. Propagation of seismic waves in homogeneous/ inhomogeneous media, waveforms and their characteristics, N-layered case, continuous increase of velocity. Refraction data interpretation.

2. Seismic data enhancement and test shooting, explosive and non-explosive sources of seismic energy for P-wave, seismic operation on land, common depth point technique, special weathering shots and noise analysis, elevation, weathering and dynamic corrections in refraction and reflection data, random and non random noises, grouping of geophones, diffraction and its analysis, controlled source seismic sounding.

3. Inverse filtering of seismic data, hidden layer problem, sequence of seismic processing, determination of average seismic velocities, principles of tomography, synthetic seismograms.

4. Analysis of multiples and ghost reflections, processing of seismic data, imaging of 2-D, 3-D seismic data, time and depth sections, record surface and reflection surface, vertical and horizontal resolution.

5. Mapping of geological structures (faults, reef, pinchouts, anticlines), migration techniques (classical and modern), wave equation migration, time and depth migration, depositional sequence and pit falls of seismic interpretations.

Suggested Books:

  1. Clarbout: Fundamentals of Geophysical Prospecting
  2. Telford et. al.: Applied geophysics
  3. Sheriff: Seismic Stratigraphy
  4. Dobrin & Savit: Introduction to Geophysical Prospecting
  5. Waters: Reflection Seismology
  6. Sheriff & Geldart: Exploration Seismology

GPM303B: CLIMATOLOGY Credits: 4

1. Introduction: Concept of weather and climate, climatic elements, climatic factors, earth-sun relationship, ecliptic and equatorial plane, rotation and revolution of the earth, equinox, solstice, perihelion, cause of seasons, radiation balance.

2. World distribution of isolation, air temperature, mean sea level pressure and wind, effect of land and ocean on circulation, diurnal and annual variations of surface air temperature at different latitudes and over the globe, upper air circulation over the whole world.

3. World distribution of precipitation, effects of continents, oceans and topography on rainfall, diurnal and annual variation of precipitation, world distribution of atmospheric perils.

4. Air masses, their classifications, source regions, modification and associated weather. Extra- tropical cyclones, their origin and associated weather.

5. Climatic Classification: Koppen and Thornthwait schemes applicable to India.

6. Climatic changes and cycles, elements of microclimatology, palaeoclimatology.

7. Indian Climatology: Principal seasons of India, annual and seasonal rainfall and its variability. Definition and concept of drought, aridity, drought indices and drought assessment.

8. Climatic change: climatic system- an overview, observed climate variability and change, physical climate processes and feedback, detection and projection of future climate scenario.

Suggested Books:

  1. Sellers: Physical Climatology
  2. Trewartha: Introduction to Climates
  3. Haurwitz & Austin: Climatology
  4. I.M.D. Forecasting Manuals
  5. Lockwood: World Climatology

GPM304A: PRACTICAL BASED ON COURSE GPM302A Credits: 2

Experiments with resistivity meter.

  1. Plotting of equipotential traces and current lines for a point source.
  2. Interpretation of S.P. Anomalies.
  3. Interpretation of I.P. Data.
  4. Interpretation of profiling data.
  5. Interpretation of field resistivity sounding curves.
  6. Computer-aided interpretation of sounding curve data.

GPM304B: PRACTICAL BASED ON COURSE GPM302B Credits: 2

  1. To study the Agrometeorological instruments used for observations.
  2. Computation of various components of weekly water balance during crop growing period and assessment of agricultural drought.
  3. Computation of evaporation, evapotranspiration and potential evapotranspiration using various approaches and methods.
  4. Forecasting of crop yield on the basis of weather parameters using crop growth models.
  5. Crop phenological changes and heat units requirement of the crops.
  6. Prediction of minimum temperature and frost under Eastern UP condition.
  7. Medium range weather forecast and preparation of agrometeorological advisory bulletins for farmers.

GPM305A: PRACTICAL BASED ON COURSE GPM303A Credits: 2

  1. Computation of seismic records and plotting section.
  2. Determination of velocity.
  3. Interpretation of reflection and refraction data.
  4. Plotting of seismic section.
  5. Testing and handling of seismic prospecting units.
  6. Automatic migration and mapping techniques.
  7. Preparation of structural maps.
  8. Seismic modelling and working at the seismic signal processing laboratory.

GPM305B: PRACTICAL BASEDON COURSE GPM303B Credits: 2

  1. Basic analysis of global distribution of mean climatic parameters.
  2. Computation of weighted and running means of a time series.
  3. Computation of rainfall variabilities and coefficient of variation.
  4. Computation of mean wind, resultant wind, prevailing wind and persistence.
  5. Computation of climatic types according to Koeppen and Thornthwaite.
  6. Exercise in curve fitting, least square, correlation and regression.

GPM306/GPM306B: GEOPHYSICAL FIELD TRAINING Credits: 2

Field training of the Second year students (fourth semester) will undergo field training for familiarization at specialized centers/field work for about 2-3 weeks during semester break after third semester and submit the report to the field training Incharge.

GPM307: PRACTICAL BASED ON COURSE GPM301 Credits: 2

  1. Identification of different phases on a seismogram and to determine the epicentral distance of an earthquake.
  2. Determination of group velocity from a record and draw the group velocity dispersion curve.
  3. Use of stereographic projection map for locating the epicentre of an earthquake.
  4. To prepare the intensity map and find out the epicentre and focal depth for an earthquake.
  5. Determination of magnitude from a given seismic records.
  6. To draw travel time curve for body waves and find out the velocities of the upper mantle.
  7. Demonstration seismological instruments-seismometer.

GPM308M: FUNDAMENTALS OF GEOEXPLORATION Credits: 3

  1. Basic principles of geophysical exploration.
  2. Physical properties of minerals and rocks.
  3. Gravity Method: Worden, Lacoste and Romberg, gravimeters, field procedure and reduction of gravity data.
  4. Magnetic Method: Flux gate magnetometer, field practices and corrections.
  5. Electrical method: elements of SP, IP and resistivity methods, Wenner and Schlumberger configurations, methods of resistivity profiling and sounding, theory of images, Tagg’s method of interpretation.
  6. Seismic Method: Elementary principle of reflection and refraction methods, two layered reflection and refraction problems, Travel-time curves. Fundamentals of conventional seismic instruments, Fan shooting, Profile shooting.
  7. Radiometric Method: Physical and geological principles of radiometric method, GM counter, scintillation counter and gamma ray spectrometer.

Suggested Books:

  1. Dobrin & Savit: Introduction to Geophysical Prospecting
  2. Parasnis: Principle of Applied Geophysics
  3. Telford et al: Applied Geophysics
  4. Sharma: Geophysical Prospecting for Geologists and Engineers
  5. Israel & Krebs: Nuclear Radiation in Geophysics
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