Department of
Earth and Climate Science

Sudipta obtained a Master's degree in Remote Sensing from the University of Alaska Fairbanks and a PhD in Ocean and Earth Sciences from the University of Southampton. He was a Post-Doctoral Fellow at GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Germany before joining IISER Pune in July 2017.

Research

Marine Geology and geophysics, Sedimentology and Stratigraphy, Basin analysis

Sudipta Sarkar is a marine geoscientist who uses seismic reflection data to understand sedimentary basin evolution. He participated in several ocean expeditions and extensively used geophysical exploration tools across various parts of the globe, including the Arctic Ocean, southwest Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean, and the eastern Pacific.

Sarkar contributed to the reconstruction of the Pliocene-Pleistocene Arctic glaciations and understanding of marine gas hydrates stability in response to ocean warming offshore western Svalbard. Using seismic data and geological information, he showed that the early Antarctic Circumpolar Current arose 36 million years ago as the Tasmania Gateway between Australia and Antarctica opened. Over recent years, his primary research activity has been identifying geological drivers of carbon mobilization that can explain global-scale climate change. These drivers include magmatic injection into a sedimentary basin, resulting in thermal cracking of organic matter and hydrocarbon (methane) production and large-scale dissociation of methane hydrate.

Selected Publications

Sarkar, S., Moser, M., Berndt, C., Doll, M., Böttner, C., Chi, W.-C., et al. (2022). Thermal state of the Guaymas Basin derived from gas hydrate bottom simulating reflections and heat flow measurements. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 127, e2021JB023909. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JB023909.

Sarkar, S., Basak, C., Frank, M., Berndt, C., Huuse, M., Badhani, S. and Bialas, J. (2019). The Late Eocene onset of the Proto-Antarctic Circumpolar Current. Scientific Reports 9:10125, DOI:10.1038/s41598-019- 46253-1.

Sarkar, S., Sheen K., Klaeschen D., Brearley J., Minshull T., Berndt C., Hobbs R., Garabato A. N. (2015). Seismic reflection imaging of mixing processes in Fram Strait, Journal of Geophysical ResearchOceans, 120:6884–6896, doi:10.1002/2015JC011009.

Sarkar, S., Berndt C., Minshull T. A., Westbrook G. K., Klaeschen D., Masson, D. G., Chabert, A. and Thatcher K. E. (2012). Seismic evidence for shallow gas-escape features associated with a retreating gas hydrate zone offshore west Svalbard. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth.

Sarkar, S., Berndt C., Chabert A., Masson D. G., Minshull T. A. and Westbrook G. K. (2011). Switching of a paleo-ice stream in northwest Svalbard. Quaternary Science Reviews, 30, (13-14), 1710‒1725.