Ashok Shaw

Research Interest

My interest lies in the field of Applied Quaternary Geosciences with relevance to the sustainable development goals in densely populated riverine and glacial settings and in understanding the architecture and processes of modern sedimentary systems through the development of conceptual geological models and their subsequent implication for groundwater and urban/rural underground storage. I follow a multidisciplinary approach which involves the examination of drill cores and geophysical well-log data combined with sediment mineralogy and geochemistry to detect sedimentary processes responsible for complex depositional environments and predict sediment-body geometries and heterogeneities affecting natural resources.

Currently, I am concentrating on the nature and distribution of glacial depositional environments at the interface of Quaternary sediment and Paleozoic bedrock in and around Southwestern Ontario, Canada. This interface is commonly the site of a modern contact aquifer system, which, depending on the protection afforded by the overlying sediments, can be an important source of drinking water in both rural and urban settings. My aim is, therefore, to better understand the glacial dynamics and associated hydraulic conditions in sub-ice systems as well as to identify their effects on modern groundwater resources at the sediment–bedrock interface.

My PhD research focused on a systematic understanding of subsurface alluvial architecture within Gangetic Foreland Basin and utilized physical and chemical parameters of sedimentary units to identify the external forcing processes and quantify their geometry and connectivity. The geological dataset was combined with geotechnical parameters to identify the potential usage of urban underground space based on its suitability, a step towards achieving sustainable development goals in India.

Publications

For a full list of publications, refer to the Google scholar profile.