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Dr. P. Senthil Kumar
Planetary Geosciences
CSIR-NGRI, Hyderabad, India
http://scholar.google.co.in/citations?user=8st5xoQAAAAJ
Present Position
Senior Scientist
Assistant Professor, AcSIR-NGRI
Institutional Address
Planetary Geosciences
Room No. 128, Extension Building
National Geophysical Research Institute
Council of Scientific & Industrial Research
Uppal Road, Hyderabad 500007, India
Phone: +91-40-27012853 (Office), 27012376 (Planetary Lab)
Fax: +91-40-27171564
E-mail: senthil@ngri.res.in, senthilngri@yahoo.com
Field of Specialization
Planetary geology, impact cratering, and rock physics and mechanics
Academic Qualifications
PhD, Geology, Osmania University, 2002
MSc, Geology, Madras University, 1996
BSc, Geology, Madras University, 1994
HSc, Science, TN Board, SRS HS School, 1989
SSLC, TN Board, GH School, 1987
Professional Experience
Senior Scientist, CSIR-NGRI, Hyderabad, 2010- Present
Scientist, CSIR-NGRI, Hyderabad, 2006-2010
Junior Scientist, CSIR-NGRI, Hyderabad, 2002-2006
CSIR(NET)-JRF/SRF, CSIR-NGRI, Hyderabad, 1997-2002
Awards and Fellowship
Indian Geophysical Union Krishnan Gold Medal, 2013
Indian National Science Academy Young Scientist Medal, 2008
Associate of Indian Academy of Sciences, 2007-2010
BOYSCAST Fellowship of Government of India, 2006 (Brown University, USA)

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CSIR-UGC (NET) JRF Fellowship, 1997
Cromarty Prize, University of Madras, 1996 (University First Rank)
Visiting Positions
03/07-03/08: BOYSCOST Fellowship, Brown University and LPI, USA
Research Projects
 Project Leader, SAC (ISRO) sponsored project (2015-2018): Geological analysis of lunar
cones, domes and lava flows: Implications for volcanic evolution of the Moon: Rs. 14.5
Lakhs.
 Project Leader, PLANEX (ISRO) funded project (2010-2014): Geological analysis of young
impact craters on the Moon: Rs. 28 Lakhs
 Project Leader, BHAVINI, DAE (2013): Status report on an unconfirmed submarine volcano
near Pondicherry: Rs. 12 Lakhs
 Project Leader, INSA funded young scientist project (2010-2013): Fragment shape-size
analysis of impact ejecta of Lonar crater: Rs. 1.5 Lakhs
 Co-investigator, Government of Maharashtra (2012-2013): Groundwater conditions in and
around Lonar crater: Rs. 54 Lakhs
 Co-investigator, NASA funded project (2013-2016): Geologic mapping of eastern part of
the Valles Marineris, Mars: USGS data and analysis support
 Co-investigator, Government of Rajasthan funded project (2008-2010): Lineament analysis
in and around Kailana-Takhat Sagar reservoir, Jodhpur: Rs. 54 Lakhs
 Co-investigator, Government of Rajasthan funded project (2011-2013): Groundwater
connectivity in and around Lonar crater: Rs. 56 Lakhs
 Co-investigator, Balaji Mines Ltd., Karnataka (2008-2009): Gravity and magnetic study for
iron ore exploration in and around Sandur schist belt: Rs. 32 Lakhs
 Work-Package Leader, 12th Five-year project: INDEX (2012-2017): Meteorite impact
cratering processes on Earth and other planets: Rs. 28 Lakhs by CSIR
 Principal Mapper, NASA Funded Planetary Geologic Mapping Project (PI: James Head,
Brown University) (2007-2012): Geologic mapping of V-56 Lada Terra Quadrangle, Venus:
1:5,000,000 Scale map, under production in the USGS.
 Principal investigator, Structural geological mapping of Meteor Crater, Arizona, USA (June-
July, 2007); Collaborator: David A. Kring, Lunar and Planetary Institute, Texas, USA.
Professional Services
 Convener, Second Indian Venus Workshop, 28-29 October 2014, CSIR-NGRI, Hyderabad.
 Convener, 13th PLANEX workshop "Impacts on Solar System Objects" 6-12 January 2013,
CSIR-NGRI, Hyderabad
 Co-convenor, National Space Science Symposium (ISRO), Tirupati, February 2012
 Journal Reviewer, Science, Journal of Geophysical Research, Planetary and Space
Science, Advances in Space Research, Geomorphology, Bulletin Geological Society of
America, Gondwana Research, Pure and Applied Geophysics, Journal of Volcanology and
Geothermal Research, Geological Society of America Special Publications, Current
Science, Journal of Earth System Science, Geoscience Frontier, International Journal of
Earth Sciences
 Recognized Reviewer, Advances in Space Research (Elsevier)
 Project Proposal Reviewer, NASA, NSF(USA), PLANEX (ISRO)
 Chairman, Technical session "Lunar Science and Exploration" at the 39th COSPAR
Scientific Assembly, Mysore, on 17 July 2012

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 Co-chairman, Technical session “The solar system bodies and planetary systems” at the
19th
National Space Science Symposium, 9-12 February 2016, VSSC, Trivandrum.
 Member, International Organizing Committee of the session “Lunar Science and
Exploration” at the 39th
COSPAR Assembly, Mysore, July 2012
 Appointed Chairman, Session P31C “Recent climate change on Mars: Insights from
terrestrial analogs” at the AGU Fall meeting, 2007 (San Francisco, USA)
 Invited Lectures: More than 50 invited lectures delivered in both International and
National Institutions, Schools and Colleges
 Faculty Member, PLANEX workshops on planetary sciences, held in 2011, 2012, 2013
and 2015; Structured Training Program for ISRO Scientists, December 2012 and 2013,
PRL, Ahmedabad; INSPIRE Science Camps in AP, TN and Maharashtra
 Panel Member (Review of Geology of Mars), Brainstorming Session on Mars Science and
Exploration, Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad, March 24-25, 2011.
 Member, Geological Society of India
 Associate, COSPAR
 National Representative, Planetary Geomorphology Working Group of the International
Association of Geomorphology.
 Member, Holocene Impact Working Group
 Member, Centre for Lunar Science and Exploration, Lunar and Planetary Institute, USA
 Member, Solar System Exploration Study Team, Indian Space Research Organization
 Member, Mars Orbiter Mission Project Proposal Evaluation Team, Indian Space Research
Organization
Teaching Experience
An active faculty member of Academy of Scientific & Innovative Research at CSIR-NGRI, Hyderabad.
Co-ordinating a course "Planetary Geology" [PHY(NGRI)-314: 2-1-0-2] for PhD students, and
delivered more than 30 class-room lectures.
PhD Thesis
Title of the thesis: Radioelemental distribution in the Dharwar craton, South India: Implications for
the evolution of the upper continental crust and heat generation in the craton. Awarded by Osmania
University, 2002. Thesis supervisor: Dr. R. Srinivasan
Peer-reviewed Publications
(papers/book chapters: 38, h-index: 12, i-10 index: 15, citations: >405)
1. P. Senthil Kumar, U. Sruthi, N. Krishna, K.J.P. Lakshmi, R. Menon, Amitabh, B.G. Krishna, D.A.
Kring, J.W. Head, J.N. Goswami and A.S. Kiran Kumar (2016) Recent shallow moonquake and
impact-triggered boulder falls on the Moon: New insights from the Schrödinger basin, Journal of
Geophysical Research: Planets, 120, doi: 10.1002/2015JE004850.
2. N. Krishna and P. Senthil Kumar (2016) Impact spallation processes on the Moon: A case study
from the size and shape analysis of boulders and secondary craters of Censorinus Crater, Icarus,
264, 274-299, DOI:10.1016/j.icarus.2015.09.033.
3. P. Senthil Kumar, K.J.P. Lakshmi, N. Krishna, R. Menon, U. Sruthi, V. Keerthi, A. Senthil Kumar, D.
Mysaiah, T. Seshunarayana, and M.K. Sen (2014) Impact fragmentation of basalt at Lonar Crater,

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India: Implications for impact cratering processes in basalt, Journal of Geophysical Research:
Planets, 119, 2029-2059, DOI:10.1002/2013JE004543.
4. U. Sruthi and P. Senthil Kumar (2014) Volcanism on farside of the Moon: New evidence from
Antoniadi in South Pole Aitken basin, Icarus, 242, 249-268, DOI:10.1016/j.icarus.2014.07.030.
5. Atsunori Nakamura, Yusuke Yokoyama, Yasuhito Sekine, Kazuhisa Goto, Goro Komatsu, P.
Senthil Kumar, Hiroyuki Matsuzaki , Ichiro Kaneoka , Takafumi Matsui (2014) Formation and
geomorphologic history of the Lonar impact crater deduced from in situ cosmogenic 10Be and
26Al, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 15, DOI:10.1002/2014GC005376.
6. Komatsu, G., P. Senthil Kumar, Kazuhisa Goto, Yasuhito Sekine, Chaitanya Giri and Takafumi
Matsui (2014) Drainage systems of Lonar Crater, India: Contributions to Lonar Lake hydrology
and crater degradation, Planetary and Space Science, 95, 45-55.
7. K.J.P. Lakshmi, P. Senthil Kumar, K. Vijayakumar, A. Ravinder, T. Seshunarayana, and M.K. Sen
(2014) Petrophysical properties of the Deccan basalts exposed in the Western Ghats escarpment
around Mahabaleshwar and Koyna, India, Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, 84, 176-187.
8. P. Senthil Kumar (2014) Central Mound (Secondary) Crater, Encyclopedia of Planetary
Landforms, DOI 10.1007/SpringerReference_367967, Springer Science, New York.
9. P. Senthil Kumar and J.W. Head (2013) Geologic map of the Lada Terra (V-56) quadrangle,
Venus, US Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Map 3246, scale 1:5,000,000, 11 p.,
http://dx.doi.org/10.3133/sim3249.
10. P. Senthil Kumar, V. Keerthi, A.S. Kumar, J.F. Mustard, B.G. Krishna, Amitabh, L.R. Ostrach, D.A.
Kring, A.S.K. Kumar, and J.N. Goswami (2013) Gullies and landslides on the Moon: Evidence for
dry-granular flows, Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, 118, 206–223,
doi:10.1002/jgre.20043.
11. K. Maheswari, P. Senthil Kumar, D. Mysaiah, M.S.H. Rao, K. Ratnamala, and T. Seshunarayana
(2013) Ground penetrating radar for groundwater exploration in granitic terrains: A case study
from Hyderabad, Journal of Geological Society of India, 81, 781-790.
12. K. Dhanam, P. Senthil Kumar, D. Mysaiah, P.P. Prasad, and T. Seshunarayana (2013) High-
resolution seismic imaging of the Sohagpur Gondwana basin, central India: Evidence for syn-
sedimentary subsidence and faulting, Journal of Earth System Science, 122, 1495-1505.
13. P. Senthil Kumar (2013) Impacts on Solar System Objects, PLANEX Newsletter, 3, 14-18.
14. Greenberger, R. N., J. F. Mustard, P. Senthil Kumar, M. D. Dyar, E. A. Breves, and E. C. Sklute
(2012), Low temperature aqueous alteration of basalt: Mineral assemblages of Deccan basalts
and implications for Mars, Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, 117, E00J12,
doi:10.1029/2012JE004127.
15. P. Senthil Kumar, A. Senthil Kumar, V. Keerthi, J.N. Goswami, B. Gopala Krishna and A.S. Kiran
Kumar (2011) Chandrayaan-1 observation of distant secondary craters of Copernicus exhibiting
central mound morphology: Evidence for low-velocity clustered impacts on the Moon, Planetary
and Space Science, 59, 870-879.
16. Hetu C. Sheth, J. S. Ray, P. Senthil Kumar, R. A. Duraiswami, R. N. Chatterjee and T. Gurav (2011)
Recycling of flow-top breccia crusts into molten interiors of flood basalt lava flows: Field and
geochemical evidence from the Deccan Traps, in: Topics in Petrology, edited by Jyotisankar Ray,
Gautam Sen and Biswajit Ghosh, 1st
Edition, 2011, VIII, 360 p. 120 illus., ISBN: 978-90-481-9599-
2, Springer, Berlin. Pages 161-180.
17. D. Mysaiah, K. Maheswari, M. Sri Hari Rao, P. Senthil Kumar, and T. Seshunarayana (2011)
Ground penetrating radar applied to imaging sheet joints in granite bedrock, Current Science,
100, 473-475.

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18. Senthil Kumar, P., James W. Head and David A. Kring (2010) Erosional modification and gully
formation at Meteor Crater, Arizona: Insights into crater degradation processes on Mars, Icarus,
208, 608-620.
19. K. Satish Kumar, P. Senthil Kumar, P. Prabhakara Prasad, K.N.S.S.S. Srinivas, D. Mysaiah and T.
Seshunarayana (2010) MASW imaging of the Deccan basalt lava flows and their weathering
zones: A case study from Ghatia, India, in GeoFlorida 2010: Advances in Analysis, Modeling &
Design, edited by D. Fratta, A. J. Puppala, and B. Muhunthan, Proceedings of the GeoFlorida
2010 Conference, p. 1394-1401, February 20–24, 2010, West Palm Beach, Florida.
20. G. K. Reddy, Rajeev Menon, T. Seshunarayana and P. Senthil Kumar (2010) Soil-gas helium and
surface waves detection of fault zones in granitic bedrock, Journal of Earth System Science, 119,
745-751.
21. T. Seshunarayana, K. Satish Kumar, S. Deenanadh, Y. Rama Mohan Rao, and P. Senthil Kumar
(2008) Subsurface imaging of dolerite dykes in Hyderabad granite terrain using multichannel
analysis of surface waves, in: Indian Dykes, edited by R. K. Srivastava, Ch. Sivaji and N. V.
Chalapathi Rao, Narosa Publishing House, New Delhi, pp. 331-338.
22. Rajeev Menon, P. Senthil Kumar, G. K. Reddy, and T. Seshunarayana (2010) Anomalous soil-gas
helium escape in 1982 Gundipet micro-earthquake zone, Hyderabad, Current Science, 98, 1187-
1189.
23. P. Senthil Kumar, Rajeev Menon, and G. K. Reddy (2009), Heat production heterogeneity of the
Indian crust beneath the Himalaya: Insights from the northern Indian Shield, Earth and
Planetary Science Letters, 283: 190-196.
24. P. Senthil Kumar and David A. Kring (2008) Impact fracturing and structural modification of
sedimentary rocks at Meteor Crater, Arizona, Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, 113,
E09009, doi:10.1029/2008JE003115.
25. T. Seshunarayana, P. Senthil Kumar, V. Sampath Rao, D. Mysaiah, K. Satish Kumar and P. Pavan
Kishore (2008), Multichannel analysis of surface waves reveals shear zones and fractures in a
shallow granite basement: Wailapally watershed near Hyderabad, Journal of the Geological
Society of India, 71, 261-265.
26. P. Senthil Kumar, Rajeev Menon, and G. K. Reddy (2007), The role of radiogenic heat production
in the thermal evolution of a Proterozoic orogenic belt: Eastern Ghats, Indian Shield, Earth and
Planetary Science Letters, 254: 39-54.
27. P. Senthil Kumar, Rajeev Menon, and G. K. Reddy (2007), Crustal geotherm in southern Deccan
basalt province, India: The Moho is as cold as adjoining cratons, in Foulger, G.R., and Jurdy, D.M.,
eds., Plates, Plumes, and Planetary processes: Geological Society of America Special Paper 430,
p. 275–284, doi: 10.1130/2007.2430(14).
28. P. Senthil Kumar (2005), Structural effects of meteorite impact on basalt: Evidence from Lonar
crater, India, Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 110, B12402, doi:10.1029/2005JB-
003662.
29. P. Senthil Kumar (2005), An alternative kinematic interpretation of Thetis Boundary Shear Zone,
Venus: Evidence for strike-slip ductile duplexes, Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, 110,
E07001, doi:10.1029/2004JE002387.
30. P. Senthil Kumar and G. K. Reddy (2004), Radioelements and heat production of an exposed
Archaean crustal cross-section, Dharwar craton, south India, Earth and Planetary Science
Letters, 224: 309-324.
31. Rajeev Menon, P. Senthil Kumar, G. Koti Reddy and R. Srinivasan (2003), Radiogenic heat
production of late Archaean Bundelkhand granite and some Proterozoic gneisses and granitoids
of central India, Current Science, 85: 634-638.

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32. L. Ray, P. Senthil Kumar, G. K. Reddy, S. Roy, G. V. Rao, R. Srinivasan, and R. U. M. Rao (2003),
Higher mantle heat flow in a Precambrian granulite province: Evidence from southern India,
Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 108, B02084, doi:10.1029/2001JB000688.
33. P. Senthil Kumar, B. Basavalingu, and R. Srinivasan (2003), Origin of the Closepet Granite in the
light of fabric, mineralogy and radioelemental composition, in: Milestones in Petrology and
Future Perspectives, edited by Anand Mohan, Memoir 52, Geological Society of India, Bangalore,
pp. 229-254.
34. D. Mukhopadhyay, P. Senthil Kumar, R. Srinivasan, and T. Bhattacharya (2003), Nature of the
Palghat-Cauvery Lineament in the region south of Namakkal, Tamilnadu: Implications for terrane
assembly in the south Indian granulite province, in: Tectonics of Southern Granulite Terrain:
Kuppam-Palani Geotransect, edited by M. Ramakrishnan, Memoir 50, Geological Society of
India, Bangalore, pp. 279 – 296.
35. S. Roy, L. Ray, P. Senthil Kumar, G. Koti Reddy, and R. Srinivasan (2003), Heat flow and heat
production in the Precambrian gneiss - granulite province of southern India, in: Tectonics of
Southern Granulite Terrain: Kuppam-Palani Geotransect, edited by M. Ramakrishnan, Memoir
50, Geological Society of India, Bangalore, pp. 179 – 192.
36. P. Senthil Kumar and R. Srinivasan (2002), Fertility of Late Archaean basement granite in the
vicinity of U-mineralized Neoproterozoic Bhima basin, peninsular India, Current Science, 82: 571-
575.
37. P. Senthil Kumar, G. Parthasarathy, S. Das Sharma, R. Srinivasan, and P. Krishnamurthy (2001),
Mineralogical and geochemical study on carbonate veins of the Salem-Attur fault zone, southern
India: Evidence for carbonatitic affinity, Journal Geological Society of India, 58: 15-26.
38. D. Mukhopadhyay, R. Srinivasan, P. Senthil Kumar, T. Bhattacharya, and P. Sengupta (2001),
Archaean-Neoproterozoic terrane boundary in the south Indian granulite belt in East Gondwana,
Gondwana Research, 4: 711-712.
Student Activities
Current Students
 U. Sruthi, Project Assistant Level-II, INDEX project (2012-present)
 N. Krishna, Project Assistant Level-III, INDEX project (2013-present)
 Aravind Bharathwaj, Assistant Level-III, SAC project (2015-present)
Past students
 S. Sathish, CSIR-JRF
Master degree thesis work
 S. Pranati (2014-15)
 S. Jayashree (2015-16)
Summer Interns (funded by Indian Academy of Sciences)
 Paisnee Patel (2015)
 Vishal (2013)
 Ankit Verma (2012)
 Muthu Kalyani (2011)
 Bivin Geo George (2010)
 Rohit Pasrija (2010)
 Shobit Manar (2009)
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