Dr. Sharmila Bhattacharya
INSPIRE Faculty, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Email sbhattacharya(AT)iisermohali.ac.in
Phone  +91-9920642684
Fax +91 172 2240266
Personal Page                                                             
Research Area
Organic Geochemistry; Geobiology; Petroleum Geology; Coal Geology
Research Focus

I am a geologist specializing in Organic Geochemistry. The primary focus of my research is to decipher the ancient biotic forms and palaeo-ecosystems. In particular, I am interested in the organic molecular fossils (biomarkers) and stable isotopes preserved in sediments for unravelling a plethora of geochemical information spanning a diverse range of biota from microbes to complex flora and fauna and across the entire geological time scale.

I trace the biotic origin and taphonomic alterations of organic matter in sediments using analytical geochemical tools and techniques. My research encompasses a combination of field work, laboratory analyses and data processing. I have been working on a wide spectrum of natural organic products such as crude oil, coal, carbonaceous mudrocks, fossilized flora and ambers sampled from different sedimentary basins in India. The various analytical techniques such as gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS), two dimensional gas chromatography time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC×GC TOFMS), Rock-Eval Pyrolyzer, micro-Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopy, gas chromatography isotope ratio mass spectrometry (GC-IRMS) and multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) GC-MS have been employed for the acquisition of data.

With the expanding database of organic compounds in soil and recent sediments, I am also using organic geochemical techniques for identifying pollutants and detrimental anthropogenic activities particularly in lacustrine ecosystems.


Selected Publications

  • Bhattacharya, S., Yadav, A., Murthy, S., Kushwaha, V., 2021. Biotic response to environmental shift during the late Permian-Early Triassic transition: Assessment from organic geochemical proxies and palynomorphs in terrestrial sediments from Raniganj Sub-basin, India. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 576, 110483.
  • Bhatt, A., Behera, D., Bhattacharya, S., Mishra, P.K., Ankit, Y., Anoop, A., 2021. Distribution and characteristics of microplastics and phthalate esters from a fresh water lake system in central Himalayas. Chemosphere 283, 131132.
  • Bhattacharya, S., Dutta, S., Kumar, S., 2021. Identification of lanostanes, A-ring methylated steranes and secosteranes in late Neoproterozoic crude oils by GC×GC-TOFMS: New insights into molecular taphonomy of steroids. Geobios. Accepted.
    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geobios.2021.04.003
  • Bhattacharya, S., Khan, M.A., More, S., Paruya, D.K., Chakraborty, T., Bera, S., Dutta, S., 2018 Amber embalms essential oils: A rare preservation of volatile biological compounds in fossil resins from eastern Himalaya. Palaios 33, 218–227.
  • Dutta, S., Mehrotra, R.C., Paul, S., Tiwari, R.P., Bhattacharya, S., Srivastava, G., Zoramthara, C., 2017. Remarkable preservation of terpenoids and record of volatile signalling in plant-animal interactions from Miocene amber. Scientific Reports 7, 1–6.
  • Bhattacharya, S., Dutta, S., Summons, R.E., 2017. A distinctive biomarker assemblage in Infra-Cambrian oil and sediment from western India: Molecular signatures of eukaryotic sterols and prokaryotic carotenoids. Precambrian Research 290, 101–112.
  • Bhattacharya, S., Dutta, S., 2015. Neoproterozoic-Early Cambrian biota and ancient niche: A synthesis from molecular markers and palynomorphs from Bikaner-Nagaur Basin, western India. Precambrian Research 266, 361–374.
  • Bhattacharya, S., Dutta, S., Dutta, R., 2014. Molecular fossils in Cretaceous condensate from western India. Journal of Earth System Science 123, 923–934.
  • Dutta, S., Bhattacharya, S., Raju, S.V., 2013. Biomarker signatures from Neoproterozoic-Early Cambrian oil, western India. Organic Geochemistry 56, 68–80.