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Paper Specific Instructions

1. The examination is of 3 hours duration. There are a total of 60 questions carrying 100 marks. The entire paper is divided into three sections, A, B and C. All sections are compulsory. Questions in each section are of different types.

2. Section – A contains a total of 30 Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ). Each MCQ type question has four choices out of which only one choice is the correct answer. Questions Q.1 – Q.30 belong to this section and carry a total of 50 marks. Q.1 – Q.10 carry 1 mark each and Questions Q.11 – Q.30 carry 2 marks each.

3. Section – B contains a total of 10 Multiple Select Questions (MSQ). Each MSQ type question is similar to MCQ but with a difference that there may be one or more than one choice(s) that are correct out of the four given choices. The candidate gets full credit if he/she selects all the correct answers only and no wrong answers. Questions Q.31 – Q.40 belong to this section and carry 2 marks each with a total of 20 marks.

4. Section – C contains a total of 20 Numerical Answer Type (NAT) questions. For these NAT type questions, the answer is a real number which needs to be entered using the virtual keyboard on the monitor. No choices will be shown for these type of questions. Questions Q.41 – Q.60 belong to this section and carry a total of 30 marks. Q.41 – Q.50 carry 1 mark each and Questions Q.51 – Q.60 carry 2 marks each.

5. In all sections, questions not attempted will result in zero mark. In Section – A (MCQ), wrong answer will result in NEGATIVE marks. For all 1 mark questions, 1/3 marks will be deducted for each wrong answer. For all 2 marks questions, 2/3 marks will be deducted for each wrong answer. In Section – B (MSQ), there is NO NEGATIVE and NO PARTIAL marking provisions. There is NO NEGATIVE marking in Section – C (NAT) as well.

6. Only Virtual Scientific Calculator is allowed. Charts, graph sheets, tables, cellular phone or other electronic gadgets are NOT allowed in the examination hall.

7. The Scribble Pad will be provided for rough work.

IIT JAM GEOLOGY 2021

Best of Luck

Q.1 Among the following rocks, the one with highest metamorphic grade is

Q.2 The Earth’s radius is maximum at which one of the following latitudes?

Q.3 The closest value to the percentage of the Earth’s surface covered by the oceans is

Q.4 Which is the shallowest among the marine environments listed below?

Q.5 Among the following, the tungsten-bearing mineral is

Q.6 The host rock of Pb-Zn deposit at Zawar is

Q.7 Bituminous coal deposits in India occur in which one of the following formations?

Q.8 Identify the plant fossil from the following list.

Q.9 The igneous body with dome or mushroom-like shape is known as a

Q.10 Which one of the following stratigraphic units belongs to the Cretaceous?

Q.11 Select the youngest volcanic event out of the following.

Q.12 Which among the following is the only possible plunge for a lineation located on the foliation plane striking 20° N and dipping 40° southeasterly?

Q.13 Which one of the following tectonic plates has the maximum average velocity?

Q.14 A limestone contains lime mud and around 25% allochems, which are separated from each other. The name of the rock as per Dunham’s classification is

Q.15 Find the CORRECT statement out of the following.

Q.16 Which one of the following crystal forms DOES NOT belong to the di-tetragonal pyramidal class?

Q.17 If a coarse-grained igneous rock is composed of >90% of plagioclase and <10% of olivine and pyroxene, then the name of this rock according to the IUGS classification is

Q.18 Which one of the following represents the compositional change in plagioclase during the crystallization of mafic magma?

Q.19 Choose the CORRECT sequence of older to younger formations in the stratigraphy of the Cuddapah Supergroup

Q.20 Match the economic deposits (Group I) with their places of occurrence (Group II).

Group I                  Group II
P. Iron ore            1. Bhatan
Q. Base metal     2. Sukinda
R. Chromite         3. Rampura-Agucha
S. Uranium           4. Bellary

Q.21 Select the answer that is a CORRECT match for the three types of unconformities. (Grey bands = sediments, [ + ] = igneous rock).

P. Disconformity


Q. Non-conformity


R. Angular Unconformity

Q.22 Which one of the following statements is FALSE?

Q.23 In the context of phylogeny of horses, the CORRECT chronological order from old to young is

Q.24 Choose the CORRECT match between items in Group I with the items in Group II.

Group I Group II
P. Polarity zone
Q. Formation
R. Biozone
S. Epoch
1. Biostratigraphy
2. Chronostratigraphy
3. Magnetostratigraphy
4. Lithostratigraphy

Q.25 The following diagram represents the prograde sequence of metamorphic zones that develop during Buchan-type of metamorphism (<4 kbar) of typical pelites. Identify the zones labelled P, Q and R.

Q.26 Match the minerals in Group I with the corresponding composition in Group II.

Group I
P. Leucite
Q. Andradite
R. Sanidine
S. Jadeite
Group II
1. (K,Na)AlSi3O8
2. NaAlSi2O6
3. KAlSi2O6
4. Ca3Fe2Si3O12

Q.27 Choose the CORRECT pair of crystal systems that represents the optic orientation shown in the figure. (X,Y,Z are the principal optical vibration directions and a,b,c are the crystallographic axes).

Q.28 Match the environment representing physical geological processes in Group I with the corresponding geomorphic landform/feature in Group II.

Group I
P. Aeolian
Q. Glacial
R. Fluvial
S. Coastal
Group II
1. Drumlin
2. Tombolo
3. Yardang
4. Natural levee

Q.29 Match the items in Group I with the corresponding items in Group II

Group I
P. Chalcocite
Q. Bauxite
R. Monazite placers
S. Chromite
Group II
1. Supergene enrichment
2. Mechanical accumulation
3. Magmatic crystallization
4. Residual processes

Q.30 Which one of the following statements is FALSE?

Q.31 Fossils from which of the following invertebrate classes show pentameral symmetry?

Q.32 The attitude of the two limbs of a fold was measured as striking 4° N, dipping 85° easterly and striking 30° N, dipping 60° easterly. Which of the following is/are TRUE for describing the geometry of the fold?

Q.33 Which of the following statement(s) is/are CORRECT regarding ophitic texture?

Q.34 On the basis of the following schematic diagram, choose the CORRECT statement(s).

Q.35 A marine organic-rich, black shale with tiny pyrite crystals shows complete absence of body or trace fossils. Which of the following statement(s) is/are TRUE?

Q.36 Which mineral(s) among the following represent(s) AB2O4 composition?

Q.37 Which among the following statement(s) is/are TRUE?

Q.38 Which of the following statement(s) regarding hydrocarbon occurrence is/are CORRECT?

Q.39 Following are the statements regarding types of sandstone as per Pettijohn’s classification. Which is/are the CORRECT statement(s) out of the following?

Q.40 Choose the CORRECT statement(s) out of the following.

Q.42 A hollow discoid (cylindrical) microfossil has an outer diameter of 20 µm, height 10 µm and wall thickness 1 μm. The internal volume that can be occupied by the organism is _______ µm3 . (use π = 3.14) (Round off to one decimal place).

Add description here!

Muscovite composition: KAl2.50Fe0.25Si3.25O10(OH)2

Q.47 During concretionary growth of a spherical grain of radius 2 Å, the rate of change of surface area with respect to change in radius of the grain is ______ X10-8 cm (use π = 3.14) (Round off to two decimal places)

Q.53 In a laboratory experiment, water discharge through a porous rock sample in 2 hours was 10 cm3. The cylindrical rock sample is 10 cm long and has a diameter of 50 mm. If the discharge occurred at a constant head of 300 cm, the coefficient of permeability of the rock sample is _____ X 10-6 cm/s. (Round off to two decimal places).

Q.57 If the indices of refraction of a uniaxial section are ε = 1.653 and ω= 1.544, and the retardation between the two rays is 550 nm, then the thickness of the section is _______ µm. (Round off to two decimal places)

Q.59 In the uvavorite garnet (Ca3+2Cr2+3Si3+4O12), Ca is in cubic coordination, Cr is in octahedral coordination and Si is in tetrahedral coordination. The electrostatic bond strength of the Ca2+ central ion is _______. (Round off to two decimal places).