The continuing proliferation in institutes and individuals engaged in the study of geology during the last century can no doubt be attributed first to the natural human quest for knowing more and more about his habitat, surroundings and how and when these came into existence.  However, a more important factor was the increasing demand for natural resources to meet their exponentially rising consumption. The mineral and hydrocarbon reserves, being essentially non-renewable necessitated looking for more favorable locales for exploration through the application of scientific knowledge and advanced technology. Large civil engineering projects led to environmental hazards which required remediation through well-researched contributions of geology and related sciences. 

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These developments have opened up avenues of employment opportunities for students of geology world over and will continue to do so for quite some time in the near future. In addition, there are institutes engaged in basic research related to crustal evolution of earth and even other planetary bodies. The study of the evolution of life too forms an important component of such studies.

Geology

The subject will continue to find new applications as the economic activity expands into non-traditional areas which would require even newer concepts to explore, for example, rare minerals, developing large sub-surface infra projects and development and maintenance of defense and nuclear establishments, and more reliable prediction and mitigation of natural hazards.

About the author:

Prof Jatinder Kumar Bhalla, a renowned geologist and professor at Manav Rachna International Institute of Research and Studies (MRIIRS) has worked extensively for the establishment and maintenance  of petrology  laboratories and unraveling crustal evolution of large number of geological provinces of India as Director, Geological Survey of India (GSI), Ministry of Mines, Government of India.  He is also the working Director in Accentus Exploration Pvt Ltd, New Delhi; and has been contributing immensely as Partner, Earth Science Solutions, Faridabad and Consultant, Global Hydrogeological Solutions, New Delhi.