BGYCT 137 key facts: June 2026
- Course code: BGYCT-137
- Subject: Stratigraphy and Palaeontology
- Programme: Bachelor of Science (General), BSCG; also listed for BSCM on the 2026 assignment booklet
- Blocks and units: 4 blocks, 16 units, in 2 volumes
- Maximum marks: 50
- Duration: 2 hours
- Questions in the June 2026 paper: 4 numbered questions, 21 printed question items; you write 12 answers
- Expected length: about 60 words per 2-mark answer, 250 per 5-mark note, 550 per 10-mark essay
- Assignment weightage: 30 per cent of the course result
- Solved on this page: 2 (Q2(e) and Q3(i)); all 21 in the paid file
BGYCT 137 Solved Question Paper for the June 2026 term-end exam gives you complete, exam-length answers to all 21 question items IGNOU set in Stratigraphy and Palaeontology, from Panjal volcanics and Glossopteris to the role of climate in the evolution of the horse. Two answers are open below so you can judge the quality before you message us.
1. What the June 2026 Solved Paper Includes
BGYCT 137 is a geology core course in IGNOU's Bachelor of Science (General) programme that teaches how rock layers are ordered, dated and correlated across India, and how fossils record the history of life.
The June 2026 paper tested both halves of the course. Stratigraphy questions ranged from unconformities and chronostratigraphy to the Himalayan mountain system, the Gondwana Supergroup and the Precambrian cratons and mobile belts of peninsular India. Palaeontology questions covered index fossils, diatoms, corals and Earth's rotation, nautiloids and ammonoids, and fossilisation.
Our solved file answers every one of the 21 printed question items, so whichever five short answers, four notes and two longer choices you prefer, a model answer is ready. On this page you can read 2 of them in full; the other 19 are listed as question text only.
2. Two Answers Solved in Full, Nineteen Held Back
Below are two complete answers from the June 2026 file: a 5-mark note on Q2(e) and the 10-mark essay on Q3(i).
We picked one palaeontology answer and one stratigraphy answer so you can see how both halves of the course are handled. The principles of stratigraphy essay is especially useful, because that topic has appeared in five of the six recent official papers we checked.
The different types of fossils
Question 2 (e): Write a short note on the different types of fossils. (5)
Fossils are the preserved remains, impressions or traces of organisms that lived in the geological past, found mostly in sedimentary rocks. Remains younger than about 10,000 years that are still being fossilised are called subfossils. Palaeontologists group fossils by what is preserved, by size and by their use.
- Body fossils. These are actual parts of the organism. Unaltered hard parts include shells, teeth and bones; rarely, whole bodies survive, such as woolly mammoths frozen in Siberian permafrost or insects trapped in amber. Altered body fossils form by permineralisation (pores filled with silica or calcite, as in petrified wood), replacement (original shell replaced by silica or pyrite), recrystallisation (aragonite turning to calcite) and carbonisation (a thin carbon film, common in leaves and graptolites).
- Moulds and casts. When a buried shell dissolves, it leaves an external mould of its outer surface. Sediment filling the shell interior forms an internal mould or steinkern. If minerals later fill the empty mould, a cast is produced that copies the original shape.
- Trace fossils (ichnofossils). These record activity, not the body: tracks, trails, burrows, borings and coprolites (fossil dung). They are valuable because they usually form where the animal lived, so they reveal behaviour and depositional environment.
- Chemical fossils. Organic molecules such as porphyrins and steranes, preserved in rocks and petroleum, act as biomarkers of past life even where no visible fossil survives.
- By size. Macrofossils are visible to the naked eye. Microfossils are smaller than 1 mm, for example foraminifera, radiolarians, diatoms, pollen and spores. Nannofossils such as coccoliths measure only a few microns.
- By use and nature. Index fossils have wide geographic spread, short time range and easy identification, so they date and correlate strata; ammonites, graptolites and trilobites are classic examples. Living fossils are modern organisms that have changed little over long periods, such as Limulus, Latimeria and Ginkgo. Pseudofossils, such as manganese oxide dendrites, only look like fossils and are inorganic.
- Plant fossils. Plants are often preserved as compressions (flattened remains with a carbon film) or impressions (an imprint with no organic matter left), as seen in Glossopteris leaves of the Gondwana rocks.
Diagram to draw. A simple three-stage sketch of a mould and cast: first a shell buried in sediment, then the shell dissolved leaving a hollow space with the sediment around it labelled external mould and the fill inside labelled internal mould (steinkern), and finally mineral matter filling the hollow, labelled cast. The full file carries this as a labelled figure.
Conclusion. Together, these fossil types help geologists date rocks, correlate sections, reconstruct past environments and trace evolution.
The basic principles of stratigraphy
Question 3 (i): Discuss the basic principles of stratigraphy. (10)
Stratigraphy (from Latin stratum, a layer, and Greek graphia, description) is the branch of geology that studies layered rocks: their order, age, distribution and correlation. A small set of principles, developed between the 17th and 19th centuries, lets geologists work out the relative sequence of events recorded in any rock succession.
- Law of superposition. Proposed by Nicolaus Steno in 1669, it states that in an undisturbed sequence of sedimentary rocks, each bed is younger than the bed below it and older than the bed above it. Where beds are overturned by folding or thrusting, way-up structures such as graded bedding, cross-bedding, ripple marks and mud cracks show which side was originally on top.
- Principle of original horizontality. Also from Steno, it states that sediments settle under gravity in nearly horizontal layers. Beds that are now tilted or folded must therefore have been deformed after deposition. Small primary dips, as on delta fronts or reef flanks, are known exceptions.
- Principle of lateral continuity. Steno's third idea holds that a layer extends sideways in all directions until it thins out at the basin edge or grades into a different sediment. Matching beds on either side of a valley were once continuous and were later cut by erosion.
- Principle of cross-cutting relationships. A feature that cuts across rocks is younger than the rocks it cuts. A dyke intruding strata, or a fault displacing beds, must have formed after those beds. The idea grew from James Hutton's work and was set out clearly by Charles Lyell.
- Principle of inclusions. Fragments of one rock enclosed in another are older than the host rock. Pebbles in a conglomerate, or xenoliths of country rock inside a granite, therefore predate the rock that holds them.
- Uniformitarianism. James Hutton argued in his Theory of the Earth (1788) that processes seen today, such as erosion, deposition and volcanism, also shaped the Earth in the past. Charles Lyell popularised it in Principles of Geology (1830 to 1833), summed up as "the present is the key to the past". Rates may vary, but the physical laws stay the same.
- Principle of faunal succession. William Smith, an English canal surveyor, showed that fossil assemblages follow one another in a definite and recognisable order, so strata with the same fossils are of the same age. His geological map of England and Wales (1815) applied this idea, and it underpins biostratigraphy and correlation.
- Walther's law of facies. Johannes Walther (1894) noted that facies occurring in a conformable vertical succession were deposited in environments that lay side by side. A vertical change from beach sand to offshore mud therefore records a shift of the shoreline.
- Unconformities as time gaps. An unconformity is a surface of erosion or non-deposition that separates younger rocks from older ones. Hutton's famous example at Siccar Point, Scotland, is an angular unconformity; other types are disconformity, paraconformity and nonconformity. Recognising them prevents a geologist from assuming continuous deposition.
Diagram to draw. A block diagram that carries four principles at once: a stack of horizontal sedimentary beds numbered 1 to 4 from the bottom (superposition), an eroded and tilted older set beneath them with a wavy line between, labelled angular unconformity, a dyke cutting up through all the beds, and a fault displacing the dyke. Number the order of events 1 to 6 alongside, so the sequence reads bottom-up. The full file carries this as a labelled figure.
Conclusion. Used together, these principles allow relative dating of rocks, correlation between distant sections and the building of the geological time scale.
3. Questions Answered Only in the Full File
These 19 question items appear exactly as printed in the June 2026 paper. Their answers are not shown on this page.
Question 1 (answer any five, 2 marks each):
(a) Unconformities
(b) Chronostratigraphy
(c) Panjal volcanics
(d) Economic significance of the Deccan Traps
(e) Index fossils
(f) Diatoms
(g) Glossopteris
(h) Brachiopods
Question 2 (write short notes on any four, 5 marks each):
(a) Difference between uniformitarianism and catastrophism
(b) Hierarchy of lithostratigraphic units
(c) The Himalayan mountain system
(d) The Gondwana Supergroup and its classification
(f) Role of corals in understanding the Earth's rotation
(g) Differences between nautiloids and ammonoids
Question 3 (ii): What are the Deccan Traps? Discuss the stratigraphy of the Deccan Traps. (10)
Question 4 (a) (i): Explain the methods of stratigraphic correlation and its need.
Question 4 (a) (ii): Give an account of the Precambrian cratons and mobile belts of peninsular India.
Question 4 (b) (i): Explain the processes of fossilisation.
Question 4 (b) (ii): Discuss the role of climate in the evolution of the horse.
4. Syllabus: 4 Blocks and 16 Units
Stratigraphy and Palaeontology is taught through 4 blocks and 16 units, split into a stratigraphy volume (Blocks 1 and 2) and a palaeontology volume (Blocks 3 and 4).
The table lists the core ideas of each unit and the June 2026 questions drawn from it. Four units had no question this session, which tells you where the December paper may lean. If you are still reading the blocks, our BGYCT 137 Study Material follows the same unit order.
| Block | Unit | Key topics | June 2026 questions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Block 1: Fundamentals of Stratigraphy | Unit 1: Principles of Stratigraphy | Superposition, uniformitarianism, unconformities and the geological time scale | Q1(a), Q2(a), Q3(i) (Sample 2) |
| Block 1: Fundamentals of Stratigraphy | Unit 2: Stratigraphic Classification | Formation as the basic lithostratigraphic unit; chronostratigraphic and geochronologic units; biozones and correlation | Q1(b), Q2(b), Q4(a)(i) |
| Block 1: Fundamentals of Stratigraphy | Unit 3: Physiography of India | Peninsular plateau, the linear divisions of the Himalaya, Indo-Gangetic plains | Q2(c) |
| Block 2: Stratigraphy of India | Unit 4: Precambrian of India | Western and Eastern Dharwar Craton, greenstone belts, Cuddapah, Vindhyan and Delhi basins | Q4(a)(ii) |
| Block 2: Stratigraphy of India | Unit 5: Palaeozoic of India | Palaeozoic successions of Kashmir and Spiti, Panjal volcanics | Q1(c) |
| Block 2: Stratigraphy of India | Unit 6: Mesozoic of India | Triassic of Spiti, Mesozoic of Kachchh and Rajasthan, Cretaceous of Tiruchirapalli | — |
| Block 2: Stratigraphy of India | Unit 7: Gondwana Supergroup and Deccan Traps | Gondwana classification and coal; infratrappean and intertrappean beds; age and economic use of the Traps | Q1(d), Q2(d), Q3(ii) |
| Block 2: Stratigraphy of India | Unit 8: Cenozoic of Himalaya | Subathu, Murree, Dharamsala and Siwalik groups; Jaintia, Barail, Surma and Tipam groups | — |
| Block 3: Introduction to Palaeontology | Unit 9: Fossils and Fossilisation | Body, trace and chemical fossils; conditions and processes of fossilisation; uses of fossils | Q1(e), Q2(e) (Sample 1), Q4(b)(i) |
| Block 3: Introduction to Palaeontology | Unit 10: Microfossils | Mineral-walled and organic-walled groups, dinoflagellates and acritarchs, collection techniques | Q1(f) |
| Block 3: Introduction to Palaeontology | Unit 11: Evolution of Horse | From Eocene ancestors to Equus, changes in limbs and teeth, spread of grasslands | Q4(b)(ii) |
| Block 3: Introduction to Palaeontology | Unit 12: Plant Fossils and Gondwana Flora | Compression and impression fossils, the Glossopteris flora of peninsular India | Q1(g) |
| Block 4: Invertebrate Palaeontology | Unit 13: Brachiopods and Corals | Brachiopod valves and lophophore, coral skeleton, corals and the Earth's rotation | Q1(h), Q2(f) |
| Block 4: Invertebrate Palaeontology | Unit 14: Molluscs: Bivalves and Gastropods | Taxodont and heterodont dentition, dextral and sinistral coiling, geological history | — |
| Block 4: Invertebrate Palaeontology | Unit 15: Molluscs: Cephalopods | Nautiloids and ammonoids, the four suture patterns, siphuncle position | Q2(g) |
| Block 4: Invertebrate Palaeontology | Unit 16: Trilobites and Echinoderms | Cephalon, thorax and pygidium; Palaeozoic range of trilobites; echinoderm groups | — |
5. Question Paper Pattern and Marks Split
The June 2026 paper carries 50 marks over 2 hours, with four compulsory questions that have internal choice.
In practice you write 12 answers: five short answers, four notes, one long essay and one two-part answer. The paper also tells you to draw well labelled diagrams wherever necessary, so plan time for sketches of strata, shells and sutures.
| Question | Type | Items printed | Attempt | Marks | Total | June 2026 examples |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 | Short answers | 8 | Any 5 | 2 each | 10 | Unconformities, Panjal volcanics, diatoms, Glossopteris |
| Q2 | Short notes | 7 | Any 4 | 5 each | 20 | Uniformitarianism versus catastrophism, Himalaya, corals and the Earth's rotation |
| Q3 | Long answer | 2 options | Any 1 | 10 | 10 | Principles of stratigraphy, or the Deccan Traps |
| Q4 | Two-part long answer | 2 options, 2 parts each | Any 1 option | 10 per option | 10 | Correlation plus cratons, or fossilisation plus horse evolution |
This four-question layout has stayed the same in every recent session we checked, which is why older papers are worth practising. You can compare earlier sessions on our IGNOU Previous Year Question Paper page.
6. Topics That Keep Returning
Stratigraphic classification and the Palaeozoic or Triassic rocks of Kashmir and Spiti appeared in all six official BGYCT 137 papers we checked.
We counted topics across six official IGNOU papers: June 2023, December 2023, December 2024, June 2025, December 2025 and June 2026. The June 2024 paper could not be found on IGNOU's websites, so it is not included. A topic is counted once per paper, however many parts it took.
| Topic | Papers where it appeared | Count (of 6) | In June 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stratigraphic classification and its units | All six papers | 6 | Yes: Q1(b), Q2(b) |
| Palaeozoic and Triassic rocks of Kashmir and Spiti | All six papers | 6 | Yes: Q1(c) Panjal volcanics |
| Principles of stratigraphy | Jun 23, Dec 24, Jun 25, Dec 25, Jun 26 | 5 | Yes: Q3(i) (Sample 2) |
| Stratigraphic correlation | Jun 23, Dec 23, Dec 24, Dec 25, Jun 26 | 5 | Yes: Q4(a)(i) |
| Types and importance of fossils, index fossils | Jun 23, Dec 24, Jun 25, Dec 25, Jun 26 | 5 | Yes: Q1(e), Q2(e) (Sample 1) |
| Microfossils (radiolarians, diatoms, palynology) | Jun 23, Dec 23, Dec 24, Jun 25, Jun 26 | 5 | Yes: Q1(f) |
| Brachiopods | Jun 23, Dec 23, Jun 25, Dec 25, Jun 26 | 5 | Yes: Q1(h) |
| Corals | Jun 23, Dec 23, Dec 24, Jun 25, Jun 26 | 5 | Yes: Q2(f) |
| Cephalopods: nautiloids, ammonoids, sutures | Jun 23, Dec 23, Jun 25, Dec 25, Jun 26 | 5 | Yes: Q2(g) |
| Cuddapah, Vindhyan and Delhi Supergroups | Jun 23, Dec 23, Dec 24, Jun 25, Dec 25 | 5 | — |
| Bivalves and gastropods | Jun 23, Dec 23, Dec 24, Jun 25, Dec 25 | 5 | — |
| Mesozoic of Kachchh, Rajasthan, Tiruchirapalli | Jun 23, Dec 23, Dec 24, Jun 25, Dec 25 | 5 | — |
| Gondwana Supergroup and its flora | Jun 23, Dec 24, Dec 25, Jun 26 | 4 | Yes: Q1(g), Q2(d) |
| Deccan Traps | Jun 23, Dec 23, Jun 25, Jun 26 | 4 | Yes: Q1(d), Q3(ii) |
| Physiography and Himalayan divisions | Jun 23, Dec 24, Jun 25, Jun 26 | 4 | Yes: Q2(c) |
| Dharwar and other Precambrian cratons | Jun 23, Dec 23, Dec 24, Jun 26 | 4 | Yes: Q4(a)(ii) |
| Processes and conditions of fossilisation | Dec 24, Jun 25, Dec 25, Jun 26 | 4 | Yes: Q4(b)(i) |
| Trilobites | Jun 23, Dec 24, Jun 25, Dec 25 | 4 | — |
| Evolution of the horse | Dec 23, Jun 25, Jun 26 | 3 | Yes: Q4(b)(ii) |
| Unconformities and disconformities | Jun 23, Dec 24, Jun 26 | 3 | Yes: Q1(a) |
| Siwalik Group | Dec 24, Jun 25 | 2 | — |
Notice the four topics skipped this session that still appeared in five earlier papers: the Proterozoic supergroups, bivalves and gastropods, the Mesozoic successions and trilobites. For a wider list of likely questions across courses, see our IGNOU Solved Guess Paper collection.
7. How Our Answers Are Prepared
Every answer is written from the official June 2026 paper, checked against the IGNOU blocks and then reviewed before it goes into the file.
Our subject experts started from the official paper and studied earlier sessions to see how IGNOU phrases repeat topics. Indian stratigraphic names such as Panjal, Cuddapah, Vindhyan and Siwalik are spelt the way the course blocks spell them, and each answer was cross-checked against the unit texts on eGyanKosh.
Length follows marks: about 60 words for a 2-mark answer, 250 for a 5-mark note and 550 for a 10-mark essay. Answers open with a definition, move through numbered points with names and dates, and close with a line on significance, with a suggested labelled sketch wherever the topic needs one.
8. Solved File Index
The solved file contains all 21 question items from the June 2026 paper; 2 are shown on this page and 19 are in the full file only.
BGYCT 137 is a theory course, so instead of a practical record index this table maps each question to its unit. Students in the same programme can also browse our BSCG Question Paper collection for other courses.
| Question | Topic | Unit | Marks | Where the answer is |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1(a) | Unconformities | Unit 1 | 2 | Full file |
| Q1(b) | Chronostratigraphy | Unit 2 | 2 | Full file |
| Q1(c) | Panjal volcanics | Unit 5 | 2 | Full file |
| Q1(d) | Economic significance of the Deccan Traps | Unit 7 | 2 | Full file |
| Q1(e) | Index fossils | Unit 9 | 2 | Full file |
| Q1(f) | Diatoms | Unit 10 | 2 | Full file |
| Q1(g) | Glossopteris | Unit 12 | 2 | Full file |
| Q1(h) | Brachiopods | Unit 13 | 2 | Full file |
| Q2(a) | Uniformitarianism versus catastrophism | Unit 1 | 5 | Full file |
| Q2(b) | Hierarchy of lithostratigraphic units | Unit 2 | 5 | Full file |
| Q2(c) | The Himalayan mountain system | Unit 3 | 5 | Full file |
| Q2(d) | The Gondwana Supergroup and its classification | Unit 7 | 5 | Full file |
| Q2(e) | Different types of fossils | Unit 9 | 5 | Sample 1 above |
| Q2(f) | Corals and the Earth's rotation | Unit 13 | 5 | Full file |
| Q2(g) | Nautiloids versus ammonoids | Unit 15 | 5 | Full file |
| Q3(i) | Basic principles of stratigraphy | Unit 1 | 10 | Sample 2 above |
| Q3(ii) | Deccan Traps and their stratigraphy | Unit 7 | 10 | Full file |
| Q4(a)(i) | Methods of stratigraphic correlation | Unit 2 | Part of 10 | Full file |
| Q4(a)(ii) | Precambrian cratons and mobile belts | Unit 4 | Part of 10 | Full file |
| Q4(b)(i) | Processes of fossilisation | Unit 9 | Part of 10 | Full file |
| Q4(b)(ii) | Climate and the evolution of the horse | Unit 11 | Part of 10 | Full file |
9. Programmes That Study BGYCT 137
BGYCT 137 is studied mainly in the IGNOU Bachelor of Science (General), and the 2026 assignment booklet lists it for both BSCG and BSCM learners.
It builds on the rock types and geological structures introduced in the earlier geology courses of the programme. The course has a separate laboratory component with its own practical manual, covering exercises such as stratigraphic columns and a lithostratigraphic map of India; this file covers the theory exam only.
Each year you must also submit one tutor-marked assignment, which carries 30 per cent weightage, before filling the exam form. The term-end paper solved here makes up the remaining assessment.
10. How to Get the Full Solved Question Paper
Send "BGYCT 137 June 2026" on WhatsApp to 9899436384 to receive the complete solved file with all 21 answers.
Our team replies with the price and payment options. Once payment is confirmed, the file reaches you on the same chat: the 2 answers you read above plus the 19 answers not shown here, each labelled with its question number and unit.
If you only need certain questions, say which ones when you message. Every answer in the file carries its printed question number, so you can go straight to the parts you plan to attempt.
11. BGYCT 137 FAQs
Quick answers to what BGYCT 137 students ask us most before the exam.
Does the solved paper answer every June 2026 question?
Yes. The full file answers all 21 question items printed in the June 2026 paper, including both choices in Question 3 and both two-part options in Question 4. That means you can pick whichever questions you feel strongest on and still have a model answer ready. Two of these answers are shown on this page; the remaining 19 are only in the full file.
How do I get the full solved paper on WhatsApp?
Send a WhatsApp message to 9899436384 with the words BGYCT 137 June 2026. Our team replies with the price and payment details, and once payment is confirmed the complete solved file is shared with you on the same chat. It contains 21 answered question items: the 2 you can read here plus 19 that are not shown on this page.
How many questions do I attempt in the BGYCT 137 exam?
You attempt 12 answers in total. Question 1 asks for any five of eight 2-mark short answers, Question 2 asks for any four of seven 5-mark notes, Question 3 asks for one 10-mark essay out of two, and Question 4 asks for one option, each with two parts. All four questions are compulsory, and the paper carries 50 marks over 2 hours.
Which BGYCT 137 topics repeat most in IGNOU term-end papers?
Across the six official papers we checked, from June 2023 to June 2026, stratigraphic classification and the Palaeozoic or Triassic rocks of Kashmir and Spiti appeared in every single paper. Principles of stratigraphy, correlation, fossil types, microfossils, brachiopods, corals and cephalopods each appeared in five. The June 2024 paper was not available on IGNOU sites, so it is not counted.
Which units did the June 2026 paper leave out?
Four units had no question in June 2026: Unit 6 Mesozoic of India, Unit 8 Cenozoic of Himalaya, Unit 14 Bivalves and Gastropods, and Unit 16 Trilobites and Echinoderms. Bivalves, gastropods, trilobites and the Mesozoic successions each appeared in five or four earlier papers, so a gap in one session is not a reason to skip them while preparing for December 2026.
Does the solved paper cover the laboratory course?
No. This file covers only the BGYCT 137 theory term-end exam held in June 2026. The laboratory work, such as preparing stratigraphic columns and lithostratigraphic maps of India, belongs to a separate lab course with its own practical manual and assessment. Use this paper for theory revision, and follow your study centre's instructions and the lab manual for the practical record.
How long should an answer be for 2, 5 and 10 marks?
Aim for about 60 words for a 2-mark short answer, around 250 words for a 5-mark note and about 550 words for a 10-mark essay. Examiners also reward labelled sketches, because the paper itself instructs you to draw well labelled diagrams wherever necessary. Our solved answers follow these lengths, so they double as a pacing guide for the 2-hour paper.
Can the June 2026 solved paper help with the December 2026 exam?
Yes, it is a strong revision base. Our six-paper check shows BGYCT 137 repeats core themes such as principles of stratigraphy, stratigraphic classification, fossil types and the Kashmir and Spiti successions almost every session. Studying the June 2026 answers alongside the units the paper skipped gives you good coverage, though IGNOU can always frame new questions, so read your blocks too.
12. Who Wrote and Checked the BGYCT 137 Answers
The BGYCT 137 answers were written by Prateek Talwar and reviewed by Sheetal Kirola.
Prateek Talwar, founder of Unnati Educations, leads the IGNOU science solved-paper series and prepares answers from the course blocks and the official term-end paper. Sheetal Kirola, Academic Head (M.Ed.), checks every stratigraphic name, date and fossil group for accuracy, examiner-style structure and British spelling before release.