Geology investigates chemical and physical properties and internal structures of the Earth and various geodynamic processes happened in its interior, finally revealing the formation and evolution of our planet.

Our department is aiming at constructing a high-level teaching team, cultivating innovational talents, conducting frontier research to promote scientific development, and serving the national economic and social development by focusing on resources and energy exploration.

Brief History

The history of Department of Geology can be traced back to 1936 when Prof. Chu Kochen, the former President of Zhejiang University, founded Department of History and Geography within National Chekiang University (the predecessor of Zhejiang University). National Chekiang University received its first graduate students in 1940. It started to offer PhD program of structural geology in 1996 and PhD program of Mineralogy, Lithology and Metallogeny in 2003. Center for post-doctoral studies in geology was authorized in 2003. In 2016, Department of Geology was established within School of Earth Sciences. Over the past 80 years, the department has nurtured a large number of outstanding geoscientists; among them are the members of Chinese Academy of Sciences, the members Chinese Academy of Engineering and the winners of the National Science Foundation for Distinguished Young Scholars.

Faculty

The department currently has 28 faculty members, including 15 professors (one academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and one winner of National Science Foundation for Distinguished Young Scholars), 11 associate professors and 2 lecturers. In addition, 2 tenure-track professors (Hundred Talent Program of Zhejiang University) are working in the department. Our aim is to cultivate high-level professionals and inter-disciplinary talents that equipped with solid geological knowledge, strong mathematical and physical background, and the abilities to solve scientific problems and apply high-and-new technologies.

Research Area 

The faculty and students in the department strive to explore the formation and evolution of the Earth, and various geodynamical processes. We combine the researches with implications, integrate geology with geophysics and oceanography, attach great importance to the combination of information technology and modern geological theories. Our research areas include:

    Tectonics and structural geology

Focusing on structures and tectonics of orogens and basins, structural analysis and modeling of complex basin, large igneous provinces and deep structure, and tectonogeomorphology and geological disasters.

    Geophysics

Focusing on (1) global geophysics, studies of large-scale problems relating to the earth’s tectonics and its dynamic behavior; (2) exploration geophysics, applications of geophysical techniques to resource prospecting; (3) near-surface geophysics, conducting environmental and engineering investigations at shallow depths.

    Mineralogy, petrology and metallogeny

Investigating into the distribution and circulation of water in the Earth’s interior and its relationship with the stability of the continent, the genesis of the intraplate magmastism and the evolution of the mantle, the link between volatiles and the generation of large igneous provinces, the genesis and evolution of granitic rocks and its relationship with mineralization.

    Environmental geochemistry and biogeochemistry

Understanding carbon and nitrogen cycling in aquatic ecosystems (lakes, rivers and estuaries); the evolution of regionally ecological environment since the industrial revolution; the biogeochemical mechanism for the development of high quality hydrocarbon source rocks in oil-bearing basins.