Planetary Geology B.Sc. The ultimate goal is to reconstruct the geology of that part of a planetary crust, which has been eroded t o give rise to a body of sediment. Basu determines petrologic, structural, and chemical properties of detrital mineral and rock fragments, with which he attempts to infer the proportions of source rock contribution to bodies of sands and sandstones on the Earth, and the regolith of the Moon through time.
Current research is focused on the evolution of the lunar regolith.
Processes responsible for the production, evolution, and maturity of the regolith are investigated by studying the properties and distribution of agglutinates in lunar soils of various compositions, maturity, and geologic contexts. A third research involves determination and modeling toxic metal distribution in the Venice lagoon to identify dispersal patterns and possible clean-up pathways. Dr. David Towell and Basu are engaged in modeling diagenesis of volcaniclastic sediments of Mars. He is also participating in extraterrestrial remote sensing research to provide a mineralogic-petrologic calibration of spectral reflectance of rocky planetary bodies. In the summer of 2001 he will give a short course at the University of Parma, Italy.