Candidates appearing for GATE 2020 Geology and Geophysics paper must know the proper syllabus, GATE 2020 GG Exam pattern, Best books to study Geology and Geophysics, preparation Strategy and proper Guidance to crack the exam with a better GATE Score.
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Geology and Geophysics GATE 2020 Syllabus, Imp Topics and Books for Preparation

Geology and Geophysics GATE 2020: The Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) 2020 exam is going to be organised by IIT Delhi on 01, 02, 08 and 09 February 2020. The subject code for Geology and Geophysics subject in GATE exam is GG.

Candidates appearing for GATE 2020 Geology and Geophysics paper must know the proper syllabus, GATE GG Exam pattern, Best books to study Geology and Geophysics, preparation Strategy and proper Guidance to crack the exam with a better GATE Score.


We hereby providing the complete details regarding GATE 2020 Geology and Geophysics preparation, so that you can have all the required information at one place and simply focus on preparation. In this article, we will let you know about the GATE 2020 GG Syllabus with some important topics, Reference books and some preparation tips for better GATE Score.


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Geology and Geophysics GATE 2020 Syllabus

Candidate should refer to the GATE 2020 (GG) Syllabus officially prescribed by the GATE 2020 conducting institute, Indian Institutes of Technology Delhi. The syllabus of GATE exam is based on graduation level. The exam paper carries 85% marks from the technical subjects and 15% of marks from the General Aptitude section. Applicants are advised to check the complete syllabus before starting the preparation of exam.

The syllabus of GATE GG subject is very vast and categories into 3 sections – Geology, Geophysics and Common to both. As all the sections don’t have equal marks distribution, so more efforts are required to make a priority list of subjects based on marks distribution in the previous exams. This exercise will help you prioritize and allocate preparation time to different topics.


Important Topics of GATE 2020 Geology and Geophysics

There are some common topics in both the sections Geology and Geophysics – Coal and petroleum resources of India, atmosphere and greenhouse effect, interior of the earth, paleomagnetism, soil formation, Basic structural geology, mineralogy, stratigraphic principles, Earth and Planetary system, Introduction to remote sensing, properties of rocks and soils, radiometric prospecting for oil, mineral and groundwater, introductory well logging.

Geology Section

Engineering properties of rocks and soils, Igneous rocks (classification, forms, textures, magmatic differentiation), Metamorphism, role of fluids in metamorphism, metamorphic provinces of India, multispectral remote sensing invisible, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks, Stress, strain, primary and secondary structures, methods of projection, GIS, Crystal symmetry, crystal chemistry, optical mineralogy, folding, Morphology, microfossils and palaeoflora, Geomorphic processes and agents; sampling, ore reserve estimation, geostatistics, mining methods, marine geology and ocean resources, role of geology in the construction of engineering structures including dams,development and evolution of landforms, Ore mineralogy and optical properties of ore minerals, tunnels and excavation sites, principles of remote sensing, interaction of energy with earth’s surface, air-photo interpretation.

Geophysics Section

Equivalence and suppression, Basic concept of EM induction, velocity, pressure, temperature, electrical & magnetic properties of the earth, earthquakes (causes, measurements, magnitude, intensity, focal mechanisms, earthquake quantification, geomagnetic field), Scalar and vector potential fields, Laplace, Maxwell, Green’s theorem, the earth as a planet (motion, gravity field shape, size) Clairaut’s theorem, Basic concepts of forward and inverse problems of geophysics, ‘G’ and ‘g’ units of measurement,reduction of layers, Seismic methods of prospecting, Geophysical signal processing, absolute and relative gravity measurements; Land, airborne, shipborne and bore-hole gravity surveys, density estimates of rocks, regional & residual gravity separation, depth rules, calculation of mass, concepts of D.C. resistivity measurement, Dar-Zarrouck parameters.

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Best Books for GATE 2020 Geology and Geophysics

  1. Engineering Geology by R. Nagarajan, A. Parthasarathy, V. Panchapakesan
  2. Engineering Geology by SK Duggal, HK Pandey, N Rawat
  3. A textbook of Geology by G B Mahapatra
  4. Principals of Engineering Geology by KM Bangar
  5. Basic Methods of Structural Geology (Pearson) By Marshak Stephen, Mitra Gautum
  6. Economic Geology: Principles and Practice by Walter L Pohl
  7. Principles of Petrology by Tyrrell
  8. Quantitative Geophysics and Geology by Louis Lliboutry

General Aptitude Section

Books Author/Publisher
Solved papers on verbal and numerical ability ACE Engineering Academy
Objective General English RS Aggarwal, Vikas Aggarwal
Quantitative Aptitude & Data Interpretation Disha Experts

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