Patna: Urmi Dutta, teacher of geology at Patna University (PU), has bagged a research project worth Rs 25 lakh under the CSIR-ASPIRE scheme for a period of three years. She is the lone woman scientist from Bihar to be selected for this award under the category of inter-disciplinary sciences in 2024.
Dutta told the newspaper that 37 women scientists from across the country were selected for the award under this category, and she was the lone recipient from the state. Prakash Parida of the physics department at IIT Patna will be the co-investigator under her in this three-year-long project.
Giving details, principal investigator Dutta pointed out that the project aims to solve the long-standing paradox of the presence of ultra-low velocity zones (ULVZs) at the core-mantle boundary of the Earth’s interior. Ultra-low velocity zones are patches on the core-mantle boundary that have extremely low seismic velocities.
“We will study the mantle-derived rocks found on the surface showing inclusions of minerals formed in extreme conditions with high pressure-temperature and low oxygen fugacity. Further, we will use geodynamical modelling tools to investigate whether it is possible that such a melt reservoir can exist on a large scale in Earth’s deep interior, which can explain the mysterious existence of ultra-low velocity zones at the core-mantle boundary,” she added.