Recent high-end researches on climate change and its impact on human civilization has made it obligatory to understand the Earth system and its multidimensional attributes. Global initiatives like the International Year of the Planet Earth and the Global Change Programs make it imperative for us to understand the dynamics of the Earth processes. The Indian peninsula is poised at the crossroad of human endeavor, geared towards improving the living standards of its vast population with the judicious use and conservation of resources for a sustained economic growth. The Indian peninsula is the home to some of the oldest rocks and events, large volumes of mineral deposits and fuel resources (much yet unexplored), expansive fossil-rich marine and terrestrial sediments that demonstrably preserve a comprehensive record of past climate and tectonics, a desert with high-amplitude variability in aeolian dynamism, and a long coastline. Besides, the Himalayan mountain range is a classic example of active orogen; its unique climate system provides an exclusive setup to understand the temporal-spatial interplay between tectonics, orography and climate. Over the years, and especially of late, India has invested profoundly on Earth science centric research in all its dimensions. These include creation of new infrastructure for improved monsoon prediction, installation of tsunami early-warning system and development of analytical and computational facilities specific to geoscience research. New national programs are being launched and aggressively implemented by the new Ministry of Earth Sciences, in addition to those of the Department of Science and Technology, Ministry of Mines and the Ministry of Human Resource Development. These efforts have created a positive impact on human lives in this part of the globe.
This report provides a glimpse into how geoscience research in India evolved during the past half-a-decade. The advancements are only suggestive, because many geo-scientific aspects could not be accommodated in this short volume. We have however included inputs from some of the key research institutions specializing in geoscience research. This document will be available on the INSA website and we hope the effort will help people and researchers, within and outside India, to connect and collaborate on geoscience research in general, and societal aspects of geoscience research, in particular. In making this report, a sincere effort was made to reach out to the entire community. We thank all authors and institutions for their contributions. The range and depth of the articles is truly remarkable and this had made the editorial effort a pleasant experience. We take this opportunity to compliment and applaud all who have contributed to the Indian geosciences. During the editing process, care was taken to ensure an error-free text. We apologize to all contributors and readers for any inadvertent omissions that still may have crept in. We thank Prof. M. Vijayan, President and Prof. T.P. Singh, Vice-President (Foreign affairs), Indian National Science Academy for their help, prompt approvals to our requests, and sage advice at all stages.