This department includes three subdivisions; Petroleum Geology (MSc degree), Sedimentology and Sedimentary Petrology (MSc. and PhD degrees), and Paleontology and Stratigraphy (MSc. and PhD degrees). There are three educational and two research laboratories in this department. Research facilities are also provided by National Iranian Oil Company and its subdivisions (e.g., IOOC, POGC, NISOC, ICOFC, RIPI) for joint projects.

Petroleum geology is the application of geology (the study of rocks) to the exploration for and production of oil and gas. Petroleum geology concepts have been evolving in recent years with the development of shale gas and tight oil. Current research topics in this part include reservoir quality assessment, source-rocks and reservoir geochemistry, basin analysis, petrophysics, structural analysis and hydrodynamics of hydrocarbon reservoirs in the Zagros area and the Persian Gulf.

The field of sedimentary petrology is concerned with the description and classification of sedimentary rocks, interpretation of the processes of transportation and deposition of the sedimentary materials forming the rocks, the environment that prevailed at the time the sediments were deposited, and the alteration (compaction, cementation, and chemical and mineralogical modification) of the sediments after deposition. Current topics in this field include low-temperature geochemistry, sequence stratigraphy, basin analysis, sedimentology of hydrocarbon reservoir rocks, and sedimentary mineral resources. There is close relationship with National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) and National Institute for Oceanography and Atmospheric Science for conducting research projects in this field.

Paleontology is scientific study of life of the geologic past that involves the analysis of plant and animal fossils, including those of microscopic size, preserved in rocks. It is concerned with all aspects of the biology of ancient life forms: their shape and structure, evolutionary patterns, taxonomic relationships with each other and with modern living species, geographic distribution, and interrelationships with the environment. Stratigraphy, scientific discipline concerned with the description of rock successions and their interpretation in terms of a general time scale. It provides a basis for historical geology, and its principles and methods have found application in such fields as petroleum geology and archaeology.

Department Manager

Dr. Hamzeh Mehrabi

Office Phone: 61113266

Mobile: +989120762988

Email: mehrabi.hamze@ut.ac.ir; hmehrabi.ut@gmail.com