Cross-Section Balancing in Structural Geology

By Prof. Soumyajit Mukherjee | IIT Bombay

Learners enrolled: 405 | Exam registration: 30

ABOUT THE COURSE:

Cross-section balancing is a structural geological exercise through which one can learn structural evolution of any deformed terrain. Ductile structures such as folds and brittle structures such as faults can be restored using the balancing techniques. The exercise is beneficial for industrial and especially hydrocarbon geoscience. Through this exercise, one also finds out shortening and extension percentage that the terrain underwent tectonically.

INTENDED AUDIENCE: B.Sc., M.Sc. M.Tech students in geoscience, industry persons in geoscience

PREREQUISITES: Introduction to Geology in B.Sc. 1^st semester

INDUSTRY SUPPORT: Oil & Natural Gas Corporation, Geological Survey of India, Oil India Limited

Summary

Course Status :	Ongoing
Course Type :	Elective
Language for course content :	English
Duration :	4 weeks
Category :	Civil Engineering
Credit Points :	1
Level :	Undergraduate/Postgraduate
Start Date :	16 Feb 2026
End Date :	13 Mar 2026
Enrollment Ends :	16 Feb 2026
Exam Registration Ends :	27 Feb 2026
Exam Date :	17 Apr 2026 IST
NCrF Level	4.5 — 8.0

Note: This exam date is subject to change based on seat availability. You can check final exam date on your hall ticket.

Page Visits

Course layout

Week 1:

Purpose of balancing or restoration of structural cross-sections, examples from published literature involving seismic sections
Assumptions involved in restoration, introduction to strain parameters
Finding out area of irregular geometries by various techniques
How to balance folds of different geometries- I
How to balance folds of different geometries- II

Week 2:

How to balance folds of different geometries- III
How to balance reverse faults-I
How to balance reverse faults-II
How to balance normal faults-I
How to balance normal faults-II

Week 3:

How to balance rift basins
How to find out the depth of detachment
Cross section balancing exercise when volume change happened Busk method of fold geometry extrapolation-I (Elementary)
Busk method of fold geometry extrapolation-II (Advanced)
Busk method of fold geometry extrapolation-III (Advanced)

Week 4:

Kink method of fold geometry extrapolation-I (Elementary)
Kink method of fold geometry extrapolation-II (Advanced)
Introduction to 2dmove software
Introduction to 3dmove software-I
Introduction to 3dmove software-II

Books and references

Fossen H. 2016. Structural Geology. Second Edition. Cambridge University Press.
Tearpock DJ, Bischke RE. 2002. Applied Subsurface Geological Mapping with Structural Methods. Prentice Hall. Second Edition.

Instructor bio

Prof. Soumyajit Mukherjee

IIT Bombay

Prof. Soumyajit Mukherjee is a Professor in the Department of Earth Sciences at IIT Bombay, with over 16 years of teaching and research experience in Structural Geology and Stratigraphy across laboratory, field, and classroom settings. He has published over 160 research papers in reputed international journals, supervised seven Ph.D. theses, and authored or edited 23 books and special volumes with publishers such as Springer, Elsevier, Wiley Blackwell, and the Geological Society of London. He also serves as an Editor for several Elsevier, Springer, Wliey, Geol Soc London and Taylor & Francis journals and is a Series Editor with Elsevier.

Course certificate

The course is free to enroll and learn from. But if you want a certificate, you have to register and write the proctored exam conducted by us in person at any of the designated exam centres.

The exam is optional for a fee of Rs 1000/- (Rupees one thousand only).

Date and Time of Exams: April 17, 2026 Morning session 9am to 12 noon; Afternoon Session 2pm to 5pm.

Registration url: Announcements will be made when the registration form is open for registrations.

The online registration form has to be filled and the certification exam fee needs to be paid. More details will be made available when the exam registration form is published. If there are any changes, it will be mentioned then.

Please check the form for more details on the cities where the exams will be held, the conditions you agree to when you fill the form etc.

CRITERIA TO GET A CERTIFICATE

Average assignment score = 25% of average of best 3 assignments out of the total 4 assignments given in the course.
Exam score = 75% of the proctored certification exam score out of 100

Final score = Average assignment score + Exam score

Please note that assignments encompass all types (including quizzes, programming tasks, and essay submissions) available in the specific week.

YOU WILL BE ELIGIBLE FOR A CERTIFICATE ONLY IF AVERAGE ASSIGNMENT SCORE >=10/25 AND EXAM SCORE >= 30/75. If one of the 2 criteria is not met, you will not get the certificate even if the Final score >= 40/100.

Certificate will have your name, photograph and the score in the final exam with the breakup.It will have the logos of NPTEL and IIT Bombay .It will be e-verifiable at nptel.ac.in/noc.

Only the e-certificate will be made available. Hard copies will not be dispatched.

Once again, thanks for your interest in our online courses and certification. Happy learning.

- NPTEL team