Presidency University

My research focuses on improving the understanding of the cycling of elements that are important to infer the paleo-environments. The research is broad in scope and involves both field (riverine system and marine system) and laboratory experiments that are typically integrated with modeling. The central theme is the assessment of the response of both ancient and modern environments to perturbations (both climatic and anthropogenic).

Bay of Bengal Oxygen Minimum Zone and element mobility during aqueous alteration are currently the major areas of my research.

B.Sc. (Geology): North Orissa University, 2008

M.Sc. (Geology): Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, 2010

Ph.D. (Chemical Oceanography): Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, 2016

Post-Doctoral: Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, 2016-2017

National Post-Doctoral Fellow: Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, 2017-2018

During my doctoral dissertation work (Jan 2011-Jan 2016) at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur, I investigated the Arabian Sea to understand the accumulation of phosphorus in Eastern Arabian Shelf, Redox-sensitive elements’ response in the shelf-slope system within oxygen minimum zone, the relation between ocean productivity and organic matter accumulation, and the eastward-shift of Arabian Sea Oxygen Minimum Zone. Each of these works has been accepted in peer-reviewed journals. During my post-doctoral Research in IIT Kharagpur (Feb 2016-Jun 2016), I was a part of a DBT sponsored project, where the geochemical investigation of water and soil samples from wells and mine drainage around Malanjkhand copper mine was conducted to understand the level of contamination of groundwater. After that, I moved to Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore where I joined initially as a research associate (July 2016-Jan 2017). During this tenure two different projects were initiated: viz., (1) evaluation of radiogenic Sr-flux from the Bengal basin to the Bay of Bengal through submarine groundwater discharge, and (2) application of redox proxies and provenance indicators to trace paleo-depositional conditions in the shelf-slope system of Eastern Arabian Shelf in two contrasting oceanic settings. In January 2017, I joined as a National Post Doctoral fellow at Centre for Earth Sciences, IISC Bangalore where I worked in the water and sediment samples from both riverine system (Mahanadi) and oceanic system (Bay of Bengal), to differentiate the anthropogenic forcing from the climatic impact on river chemistry and oceanic regime.

My areas of expertise include chemical oceanography, isotope geochemistry, hydrogeology, and environmental geochemistry. In my seven years of research (including Ph.D. and Post-doc), I have worked on various problems of Geo-scientific importance, viz. (i) Phosphorus accumulation in the Eastern Arabian shelf, (ii) Eastward shift of oxygen minimum zone of Arabian Sea, (iii) response of redox-sensitive elements in the shelf-slope settings of Arabian Sea, (iv) mode of preservation of organic matters in the ocean basin (v) Sr-flux associated with submarine groundwater discharge of Bengal basin and (vi) mode of contaminants transport in the riverine systems. I have developed expertise in working in the different state of the art instruments like Thermal Ionization Mass Spectrometry (TIMS) (Thermo Triton Plus), QICPMS (Thermo X Series II), XRF (Philips PW2404 WD, PANalytical-Axios), CHNS (EA3000–Eurovector), and Ion Chromatograph (Metrohm).

PG Semester I: Geochemistry,

PG Semester II: Fundamentals of Oceanography, Geomathematics and Computer Applications

PG Semester IV: Petroleum Geology

UG Semester II: Computational Techniques and Programming

UG Semester IV: Elements of Geochemistry

UG Semester V: Oceanography and Marine Science, Earth and Climate

Peer-reviewed Articles

8. Roy, S., Acharya, S.S. & Chakrabarti, R., 2024. Mobilization of rare earth elements during extreme weathering of basalt. Geochemistry, 84(1), p.1-14. doi: 10.1016/j.chemer.2024.126086

7. Acharya, S. S., Hishamunda, V., & Chakrabarti, R., 2022, Natural sources and anthropogenic influences on the river water and groundwater chemistry of the Lower Mahanadi Basin: Insights from radiogenic Sr isotopes and major ion chemistry, Front. Water 4:846438. doi: 10.3389/frwa.2022.846438

6. Acharya, S. S. & Chakrabarti, R., 2019, Variations in trace metal concentrations and Sr, Nd isotopic compositions in sediments from two contrasting settings in the Eastern Arabian Shelf: implications for provenance and paleoclimate reconstruction, Chemical Geology, 509, 134-151.

5. Chakrabarti, R., Mondal, S., Acharya, S. S., Lekha, J. S., & Sengupta, D., 2018. Submarine groundwater discharge derived strontium from the Bengal Basin traced in Bay of Bengal water samples. Scientific Reports (Nature), 8(1), 4383.

4. Acharya, S.S., Panigrahi, M.K., 2016. Eastward shift and Maintenance of Arabian Sea Oxygen Minimum Zone: Understanding the paradox. Deep-Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers (Elsevier), 115, 240-252.

3. Acharya, S.S., Panigrahi, M.K., 2016. Evaluation of factors controlling the distribution of organic matter and phosphorus in the Eastern Arabian Shelf: A geostatistical reappraisal. Continental Shelf Research (Elsevier), 126, 79-88.

2. Acharya, S.S., Panigrahi, M.K., Kurian, J., Gupta, A.K., Tripathy, S., 2016. Speciation of phosphorus in the continental shelf sediments in the Eastern Arabian Sea. Continental Shelf Research (Elsevier), 115,65-75.

1. Acharya, S.S., Panigrahi, M. K., Gupta, A. K., Tripathy, S., 2015. Response of trace metal redox proxies in continental shelf environment: The Eastern Arabian Sea scenario. Continental Shelf Research (Elsevier), 106, 70-84.

Conference abstracts

Guha, S., Acharya, S.S., Formation and preservation mechanisms of jarosite on the earth’s surface: A coupled theoretical and experimental approach. American Chemical Society (ACS) Spring, 2023,

Basu, A., Acharya, S.S., Evaluation of the efficacy of water-rock interaction in granitic & basaltic terrains in the present and past climate change episodes as a potential negative feedback on atmospheric pCO2 on the earth. American Chemical Society (ACS) Spring, 2023

Roy, S., Acharya, S.S., Mobilization and redistribution of rare earth elements during extreme weathering of basalt. American Chemical Society (ACS) Spring, 2023

Chakrabarti, R., Acharya S.S., Mondal, S., Large Stable Ca Isotopic (δ44/40Ca) Variation in Open Ocean Samples from the Bay of Bengal. Goldschmidt, 2018. Boston

Acharya S.S., Chakrabarti, R., Mondal, S., Large stable Ca isotopic (δ44/40Ca) variation in Bay of Bengal water: implications for reconstruction of δ44/40Ca of Phanerozoic seawater. National Seminar on “ Dynamics of surface and sub-surface geological processes”, Pondicherry University, 2017, Pondicherry

Acharya S.S., Oxic Signature of sediments within Arabian Sea Oxygen Minimum Zone: Exploring a Geochemical Enigma. Humboldt colloquium, 2017, Bangalore

Chakrabarti, R., Mondal, S., Acharya S.S., Sreelekha, J., Sengupta, D,. Strontium Isotopic Evidence for Submarine Groundwater Discharge (SGD) in Bay of Bengal Water. Goldschmidt, 2017. Paris

Acharya, S.S., Panigrahi, M. K., Reconstruction of late quaternary monsoon oscillations as recorded in the shelf sediments of the Eastern Arabian Sea, National Seminar on “Recent advances in earth sciences”, Sambalpur University, 2014. Orissa

Panigrahi M.K., Acharya S.S., A Microsoft Excel 2007 and MS Visual Basic Macro based software package for computation of density and isochors of fluid inclusions. Proc. ACROFI-3 and TBG XIV, 15-20 Sep, 2010, Novosibirsk, Russia, pp160-61

Shiba Shankar Acharya

Assistant Professor

About-

Qualifications+

Biography+

Research / Administrative Experience+

Teaching / Other Experience+

Post Graduate Supervision+

Academic Memberships+

Publications+

About Presidency

Quick Links

Students

How to Find Us

Shiba Shankar Acharya Assistant Professor