PETROLOGICAL LABORATORIES

Other than Central Petrological Laboratory at Headquarters, Calcutta, each region, all the three Wings and other State based operational units are having petrological laboratory, to cater to the needs of the various disciplines of earth science and also to carry out research on fundamental and applied aspects of igneous, sedimentary, metamorphic petrology, ore-mineralogy, coal petrography, clay mineralogy. Studies of meteorites are also being carried out in these laboratories.

  • Central laboratories comprise of eight sub-units like rock cutting and section preparation, petrography lab, ore-microscopy unit, coal-petrography unit, Lab for sedimentological studies, clay mineralogy, fluid inclusion study lab, mineral separation lab and ultimately data processing unit.

  • Regional and operational labs have facilities for study of rocks, ores and meteorites.
  • Research problems are being pursued in recent years to include, study of granulites which provide a window into lower crustal rocks and processes; study of alkaline rocks, which are known to originate at deep levels tapping the enriched asthonospheric mantle source and as such these yield valuable insights into mantle enrichment processes, magma generation, magmatic differentiation trends and emplacement history; study of higher Himalayan crystallines of Sikkim, study of volcanic rocks of Archaean greenstone belts and sedimentological studies of the lower reaches of the alluvial fans of the Gangetic delta.

  • GSI being the custodian of all Indian meteorites is engaged in the study of those for depicting the evolutionary history of different groups of meteorites. In collaboration with Smithsonian Institute, GSI has been able to establish the Lonar lake of Maharashtra, as a hypervelocity impact crater within mafic rocks. While working on Shergotty meteorite, in collaboration with NASA, it is established as one of the twelve Martian meteorite.

Services available :

  • Petrological laboratories undertake various types of coneventional and advanced petrological studies including fluid inclusion, cathodoluminiscence and stable isotope analysis of Oxygen, Hydrogen and Sulphur

  • Services as well as training in Laboratory procedures are offered on commercial basis.

[ Home ] [ LABS ]

Send mail to Dy. Director General (Op.III) for further information.
Last modified: 8th October, 2004