R. Sivakumar, Head, Geology Department, Presidency College, Chennai, thinks that the museum in his department could be the oldest campus museum in the country. “We have thousands of rare rocks, ores and fossils from various parts of the globe,” he said. “A similar collection is hard to find.”
Recounting its history, alumnus of the college, K. Ayyasami, Deputy Director-General, GSI, Hyderabad, said, “The Presidency Colleges of Madras and Calcutta started Geology courses very early.” The curriculum demanded that students travel in the countryside, look for geological samples for study. “Students have been collecting them for more than a century. The rock, mineral or fossil specimens were in wooden drawers, many with their century-old number-tags still intact. These could be matched with the catalogues in office records,” he said. He is helping students catalogue fossils and select specimens to be marked “Classic” and displayed. Some would be dedicated for student-study for practicals.
Gowtham, Assistant Professor, gave me an informative tour. He pointed out how the Ammonites (relatives of present-day Nautilus) measuring more than 90 cm in diameter have the ornamentation of curved ribs on the shell intact. Bivalve shells of various shapes and sizes, some with their pristine original shell colour intact made me wonder whether they held fossilised pearls.
“Fieldwork in Ariyalur (Tiruchi) yielded Ammonites. This proves that the tectonic plates were once a single landmass surrounded by water,” he said. “Soil samples attached to ocean-living Baculites mark the earth's age.” In a 2014-15 field-trip, Dr. Gowtham’s final-year students collected a part of the dinosaur Ichthyosaurus. “At Therani clay mines, 29 students got a leaf fossil each, once told how to look for it.”
STEGOSAURUS SNOUTThe star exhibit is a part of a Stegosaurus snout, with a picture showing how it fits the famous animal. Each display carries an information card. The foreign specimens that the college got through exchange or donation have been displayed separately. Charts and maps help view and perceive geological history.
Spots are marked for taking pictures. “When I put my hand on the fossil, I am interacting with something that lived 65 million years ago,” said Dr. Gowtham. “Extinction of fossils left behind limestone, the raw-material for cement factories to build shelters today,” he added.
“We study the crystalline structures of mineral forms in wooden models, but now we have more than 60 crystal models,” said Dr. Ayyasami. “They are useful in understanding the stratigraphic traps responsible for petroleum accumulation in rocks.” A leaf or foot impression, shell, bone or dung (coprolite that reveals undigested plant remains in animal bellies) is a source of important geological stories.
Dr. Sivakumar is planning a national exhibition of the treasure in association with geological organisations and the university geology departments. “It will be held as part of the ongoing 175th year celebration of Presidency College and 125th celebrations of our department,” he said. He might pull off a theme park depicting milestones in geological history.
Added Dr. Ayyasami, “The theme park will come up in the open area between the zoology and the geology/geography departments. People will get to see the representatives of Jurassic and Cretaceous plants that still exist, like the Ginkgo. It will promote preservation of plant species.”
