Anil Kumar Gupta (scientist)

This article is about the geologist. For the scholar of grassroot innovations, see Anil Kumar Gupta.

Anil Kumar Gupta
Anil Kumar Gupta, professor at IIT Kharagpur.
Born	1960 (age 64–65) Budaun district, Uttar Pradesh, India
Education	B.Sc, M.Sc, Ph.D.
Alma mater	Aligarh Muslim University, Banaras Hindu University
Scientific career
Fields	Geology and Geophysics

Anil Kumar Gupta (born 1960) is an Indian geologist and professor in the Department of Geology and Geophysics at the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur. His research focuses on paleomonsoon dynamics, paleoclimatology, and paleoceanography, with an emphasis on reconstructing past variability of the Indian Summer Monsoon using micropaleontological and sedimentary proxies. ^{[1] [2]}

Gupta served as Director of the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology from 2010 to 2017 and was Head of the Department of Geology & Geophysics at IIT Kharagpur from 2006 to 2009. ^{[3] [4]}

He received the TWAS Prize in Earth Sciences in 2010 for his contributions to palaeoclimatology. ^[5]

Early life and career

Gupta was born in the Budaun district of Uttar Pradesh and is listed as having originated from Budaun in authoritative directory information on international science organizations. ^[6] He was born in 1960, ^[7] Gupta obtained his Ph.D. in 1987 from Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi and joined the Department of Geology and Geophysics at the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur as a Lecturer in the same year. ^[6]

At IIT Kharagpur, he served as Head of the Department of Geology and Geophysics from 2006 to 2009 and as Head of the Centre for Oceans, Rivers, Atmosphere and Land Sciences (CORAL) from 2018 to 2021. ^[6]

Gupta served as Director of the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology from 2010 to 2017, according to the official register of former directors maintained by the institute. ^[8]

His career has included additional academic and research affiliations, including international fellowships and research associate positions, as noted by the TWAS directory and other scholarly listings. ^[6]

Awards

Anil Kumar Gupta receiving TWAS Prize 2010 from The World Academy of Sciences

Gupta received the young Scientist award from the Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA) in 1990. In 1999, he was awarded a Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Fellowship to conduct a research at Shimane University. ^[9] In 2001, the National Research Council (NRC) awarded him a Senior Research Fellowship Award to work at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Laboratory in Boulder, Colorado. Gupta received the TWAS Prize from the World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) in 2010. In 2012, he was granted the J.C. Bose National Fellowship by the Indian Department of Science and Technology (DST).^{[ failed verification ][ better source needed ]}

His Honours and achievements include:

• Elected as Fellow of The Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore (FASc), India, 2008. ^[10]
• Awarded the UNESCO-TWAS Prize of The World Academy of Sciences, Italy, 2010. ^[11]

Research

Gupta at the 22nd annual meeting of The World Academy of Sciences in Trieste, Italy

Gupta has contributed to the fields of micropaleontology, paleoclimatology, and palaeoceanography, with a focus on the Indian monsoon system. Gupta assisted in the publication of the Inventory of Glacial Lakes of Uttarakhand. ^[12]

Gupta's work focuses on decadal to millennial-scale changes in the South Asian and Indian monsoon systems and their teleconnections with climatic shifts in the North Atlantic. His research is based on proxy records from the Arabian Sea, the Indian Himalaya, and the Ganges Basin. He and his team have studied foraminifera microfossils from the Arabian Sea to identify both short- and long-term shifts in the South Asian and Indian monsoons during the Quaternary. ^{[13] [14] [15]} His work links Asian and Indian monsoon failures to societal collapses, ^{[16] [17]} human migrations, and changes in agricultural practices in South Asia during the Holocene. His recent studies from the Himalayan and Ganges Basin lakes have indicated a long arid phase between 4,350 and 2,900 years BP that led to the displacement of Indus settlements and a major change in agricultural practices, including land use patterns. ^[18]

To understand the history of Indian monsoon variability, as well as changes in the Indian Ocean, Gupta has studied benthic and planktic foraminifera, as well as their stable isotopes from Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) cores. ^[19] His research includes the first identification of the Indian Ocean Dipole in a paleoclimate record and the documentation of Bond cycles ^[20] in the paleorecord of the Indian monsoon over the Holocene. To understand regional precipitation, Gupta studied lake deposits and cave carbonates (speleothems) across the Indian landmass. His work produced the longest speleothem record from India, which revealed major shifts in the intensity of the Indian monsoon.

Books and publications

• Anderson, D.M., Overpeck, J.T. and Gupta, A.K., 2002. Increase in the Asian southwest monsoon during the past four centuries. Science, 297(5581), pp. 596–599. ^[14]
• Gupta, A.K., Anderson, D.M. and Overpeck, J.T., 2003. Abrupt changes in the Asian southwest monsoon during the Holocene and their links to the North Atlantic Ocean. Nature, 421(6921), pp. 354–357. ^[13]
• Gupta, A.K., 2008. Monsoons, Quaternary. In: Vivian Gronitz (Ed.) Encyclopedia of Paleoclimatology and Ancient Environments, Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, pp. 589 – 594. ^[21]
• De, S., Sarkar, S. and Gupta, A.K., 2010. Orbital and suborbital variability in the equatorial Indian Ocean as recorded in sediments of the Maldives Ridge (ODP Hole 716A) during the past 444 ka. In: Clift, P.D., Tada, R. and Zheng, H. (Eds.), Monsoon Evolution and Tectonics – Climate Linkage in Asia, Geological Society of London, Special Publications, v. 342, 17–27. ^[22]
• Singh, V. S., Pandey, D.N., Gupta, A.K. and Ravindranath, N.H., 2010. Climate Change Impacts, Mitigation and Adaptation: Science for Generating Policy Options in Rajasthan, India. RSPCB Occasional Paper No. 2/2010, Rajasthan State Pollution Control Board, Jaipur, India, p. 1-150.
• Bhambri, R., Mehta, M., Dobhal, D.P., and Gupta, A.K., 2015. Glacial Lake Inventory of Uttarakhand. Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehradun, pp. 78. ^[23]
• Mehta, M., Dobhal, D.P., Shukla, T. and Gupta, A.K., 2016. Instability Processes triggered by heavy rain in the Garhwal region, Uttarakhand, India. Climate Change, Glacier Response, and Vegetation Dynamics in the Himalaya, Chapter 12, p. 219-234. ^[24]
• Jayankondam Perumal, R., Thakur, V.C., Joe Vivek, J., Rao, Priyanka Singh, Gupta, Anil Kumar, 2018. Active Tectonics of Kumaon and Garhwal Himalaya (Springer Natural Hazards). Springer; 1st ed. 2018 edition (April 16, 2018). ^[25]
• Mehta, Manish, Bhambri, Rakesh, Perumal, J., Srivastava, Pradeep, and Gupta, Anil K., 2018. Uttarakhand Calamity: A Climate Revelation in the Bhagirathi River Valley Uttarakhand, India, Chapter, 10. In: I. Pal, R. Shaw (eds.), Disaster Risk Governance in India and Cross Cutting Issues, Disaster Risk Reduction. ^[26]
• Cheng, H., Xu, Y., Dong, X., Zhao, J., Li, H., Baker, J., ... & Edwards, R. L. (2021). Onset and termination of Heinrich Stadial 4 and the underlying climate dynamics. Communications Earth & Environment, 2(1), 230. ^[27]
• Dong, X., Kathayat, G., Rasmussen, S.O., Svensson, A., Severinghaus, J.P., Li, H., Sinha, A., Xu, Y., Zhang, H., Shi, Z. and Cai, Y., 2022. Coupled atmosphere-ice-ocean dynamics during Heinrich Stadial 2. Nature Communications, 13(1), pp. 1–14. ^[28]
• Gupta, Anil K., 2022. Neogene Deep Water Benthic Foraminifera from the Indian Ocean – A Monograph. Nova Publishers, USA. ^[29]
• Kaushik, A., Gupta, A.K., Clemens, S.C., Kumar, P., Sanyal, P., Gupta, P., Jaiswal, M.K., Maurya, A.S., Sengupta, S., Sharma, R. and Pawar, R., 2023. Paleoclimatic reconstruction of northwest Himalaya since CE 475 using lake sediments from Tadag Taal, Kumaun, India. Paleogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Paleoecology, 619, p.111544. ^[30]
• Podder, R. S., Gupta, A. K., Clemens, S., Sanyal, P., and Panigrahi, M. K., 2024. Changes in the Indian Ocean surface hydrography driven by the seaway closure and monsoonal circulation since the late Oligocene. Global and Planetary Change, 232, 104335. ^[31]
• Podder, R.S., Gupta, A.K., Sanyal, P. and Clemens, S., 2023. Changes in surface hydrography of the western equatorial Indian Ocean during the Pleistocene: Implications for East African climate variability. Global and Planetary Change, 231, p.104322. ^[32]
• Mohanty, R. N., Clemens, S. C., & Gupta, A. K. (2024). Dynamic shifts in the southern Benguela upwelling system since the latest Miocene. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 637, 118729. ^[33]
• Gupta, Anil K., 2025. Shri Ram: The Most Virtuous Scion of Ikshvaku, Garuda Prakashan Pvt. Ltd., India, pp. 1-272. ^[34]

References

1. Gupta, Anil Kumar. "Fellow Profile: Anil Kumar Gupta". Indian Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 2025-11-28.
2. "Faculty profile: Anil K. Gupta". IIT Kharagpur. Retrieved 2025-11-28.
3. "Former Directors". Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology. Retrieved 2025-11-28.
4. "IIT Kharagpur — Departmental History". IIT Kharagpur. Retrieved 2025-11-28.
5. "TWAS Prize Winners: Anil K. Gupta". The World Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 2025-11-28.
6. "Gupta, Anil Kumar – TWAS Directory". The World Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 2025-12-13.
7. "Prof. Anil Kumar Gupta – Indian Academy of Sciences". Indian Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 2025-12-13.
8. "Former Directors – Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology". Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology. Retrieved 2025-12-13.
9. "IIT Kharagpur". Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur Faculty Profiles. Retrieved 2022-09-19.
10. "Indian Academy of Sciences, Bengaluru Fellows' portal". fellows.ias.ac.in.
11. "TWAS Announces 2010 Prize Winners". twas.org- UNESCO The world academy of sciences.
12. Bhamri, Rakesh; Mehta, Manish; Dobhal, Dwarika P; Gupta, Anil (September 2015). Glacial Lake Inventory of Uttarakhand. Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehradun 248001, India.
13. "Abrupt changes in the Asian southwest monsoon during the Holocene and their links to the North Atlantic Ocean". Nature.
14. "Increase in the Asian Southwest Monsoon During the Past Four Centuries". Science.
15. Gupta, Anil K.; Thomas, Ellen (2003). "Initiation of Northern Hemisphere glaciation and strengthening of the northeast Indian monsoon: Ocean Drilling Program Site 758, eastern equatorial Indian Ocean" . Geology. 31 (1): 47–50. Bibcode:2003Geo....31...47G. doi:10.1130/0091-7613(2003)031<0047:ionhga>2.0.co;2 . Retrieved 2022-09-19.
16. Singh, Shweta; Gupta, Anil K.; Rawat, Suman; Bhaumik, Ajoy K.; Kumar, Pankaj; Rai, Santosh K. (2022-08-20). "Paleomonsoonal shifts during ~13700 to 3100 yr BP in the central Ganga Basin, India with a severe arid phase at ~4.2 ka" . Quaternary International. Understanding the Late Quaternary Paleomonsoon and Paleoenvironmental Shifts of Asia. 629: 65–73. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2021.01.015. ISSN   1040-6182. S2CID   234065517.
17. Kathayat, Gayatri; Cheng, Hai; Sinha, Ashish; Yi, Liang; Li, Xianglei; Zhang, Haiwei; Li, Hangying; Ning, Youfeng; Edwards, R. Lawrence (December 2017). "The Indian monsoon variability and civilization changes in the Indian subcontinent". Science Advances. 3 (12) e1701296. Bibcode:2017SciA....3E1296K. doi:10.1126/sciadv.1701296. ISSN   2375-2548. PMC   5733109 . PMID   29255799.
18. Dutt, Som; Gupta, Anil K.; Wünnemann, Bernd; Yan, Dada (2018-07-20). "A long arid interlude in the Indian summer monsoon during ~4,350 to 3,450 cal. yr BP contemporaneous to displacement of the Indus valley civilization" . Quaternary International. 482: 83–92. Bibcode:2018QuInt.482...83D. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2018.04.005. ISSN   1040-6182. S2CID   134976355.
19. "INSA :: Indian Fellow Detail". www.insaindia.res.in. Retrieved 2022-09-19.
20. Gupta, Anil K.; Das, Moumita; Anderson, David M. (September 2005). "Solar influence on the Indian summer monsoon during the Holocene: INDIAN SUMMER MONSOON-SOLAR LINK". Geophysical Research Letters. 32 (17). doi: 10.1029/2005GL022685 . S2CID   18954963.
21. Gornitz, Vivien, ed. (2009). Encyclopedia of paleoclimatology and ancient environments. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer. ISBN   978-1-4020-4411-3. OCLC   318545637.
22. De, Soma; Sarkar, Sudipta; Gupta, Anil K. (January 2010). "Orbital and suborbital variability in the equatorial Indian Ocean as recorded in sediments of the Maldives Ridge (ODP Hole 716A) during the past 444 ka". Geological Society, London, Special Publications. 342 (1): 17–27. Bibcode:2010GSLSP.342...17D. doi:10.1144/sp342.3. ISSN   0305-8719. S2CID   129034965.
23. Bhambri, Rakesh. Glacier lake inventory of Uttarakhand. OCLC   1017963495.
24. Mehta, Manish; Dobhal, D. P.; Shukla, Tanuj; Gupta, Anil K. (2016), Singh, Rb; Schickhoff, Udo; Mal, Suraj (eds.), "Instability Processes Triggered by Heavy Rain in the Garhwal Region, Uttarakhand, India" , Climate Change, Glacier Response, and Vegetation Dynamics in the Himalaya, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 219–234, doi:10.1007/978-3-319-28977-9_12, ISBN   978-3-319-28975-5 , retrieved 2022-09-19
25. Jayangondaperumal, R.; Thakur, V. C.; Joevivek, V.; Singh Rao, Priyanka; Gupta, Anil K. (2018). Active tectonics of Kumaun and Garhwal Himalaya. Singapore. ISBN   978-981-10-8243-6. OCLC   1029075205.
26. Mehta, Manish; Bhambri, Rakesh; Perumal, J.; Srivastava, Pradeep; Gupta, Anil K. (2018), Pal, Indrajit; Shaw, Rajib (eds.), "Uttarakhand Calamity: A Climate Revelation in the Bhagirathi River Valley Uttarakhand, India" , Disaster Risk Governance in India and Cross Cutting Issues, Disaster Risk Reduction, Singapore: Springer Singapore, pp. 193–207, doi:10.1007/978-981-10-3310-0_10, ISBN   978-981-10-3309-4 , retrieved 2022-09-19
27. Cheng, Hai; Xu, Yao; Dong, Xiyu; Zhao, Jingyao; Li, Hanying; Baker, Jonathan; Sinha, Ashish; Spötl, Christoph; Zhang, Haiwei; Du, Wenjing; Zong, Baoyun; Jia, Xue; Kathayat, Gayatri; Liu, Dianbing; Cai, Yanjun (2021-11-08). "Onset and termination of Heinrich Stadial 4 and the underlying climate dynamics". Communications Earth & Environment. 2 (1): 230. doi: 10.1038/s43247-021-00304-6 . ISSN   2662-4435.
28. Dong, Xiyu; Kathayat, Gayatri; Rasmussen, Sune O.; Svensson, Anders; Severinghaus, Jeffrey P.; Li, Hanying; Sinha, Ashish; Xu, Yao; Zhang, Haiwei; Shi, Zhengguo; Cai, Yanjun; Pérez-Mejías, Carlos; Baker, Jonathan; Zhao, Jingyao; Spötl, Christoph (2022-10-04). "Coupled atmosphere-ice-ocean dynamics during Heinrich Stadial 2". Nature Communications. 13 (1): 5867. Bibcode:2022NatCo..13.5867D. doi:10.1038/s41467-022-33583-4. ISSN   2041-1723. PMC   9532435 . PMID   36195764.
29. Kumar Gupta, Anil (2022). Neogene Deep Water Benthic Foraminifera from the Indian Ocean – A Monograph. Nova Science Publishers. doi:10.52305/hppf1438. ISBN   979-8-88697-385-3.
30. Kaushik, Arun; Gupta, Anil K.; Clemens, Steven C.; Kumar, Pankaj; Sanyal, Prasanta; Gupta, Priyantan; Jaiswal, Manoj Kumar; Maurya, Abhayanand S.; Sengupta, Sreya; Sharma, Rajveer; Pawar, Rahul (2023-06-01). "Paleoclimatic reconstruction of northwest Himalaya since CE 475 using lake sediments from Tadag Taal, Kumaun, India" . Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 619 111544. Bibcode:2023PPP...61911544K. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2023.111544. ISSN   0031-0182.
31. Podder, Raj S. I. S.; Gupta, Anil K.; Clemens, Steven; Sanyal, Prasanta; Panigrahi, M. K. (2024-01-01). "Changes in the Indian Ocean surface hydrography driven by the seaway closure and monsoonal circulation since the late Oligocene" . Global and Planetary Change. 232 104335. Bibcode:2024GPC...23204335P. doi:10.1016/j.gloplacha.2023.104335. ISSN   0921-8181.
32. Podder, Raj S. I. S.; Gupta, Anil K.; Sanyal, Prasanta; Clemens, Steven (2023-12-01). "Changes in surface hydrography of the western equatorial Indian Ocean during the Pleistocene: Implications for East African climate variability" . Global and Planetary Change. 231 104322. Bibcode:2023GPC...23104322P. doi:10.1016/j.gloplacha.2023.104322. ISSN   0921-8181.
33. Mohanty, Rudra Narayan; Clemens, Steven C.; Gupta, Anil K. (2024-07-01). "Dynamic shifts in the southern Benguela upwelling system since the latest Miocene" . Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 637 118729. Bibcode:2024E&PSL.63718729M. doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2024.118729. ISSN   0012-821X.
34. Gupta, Anil K. (2025). Shri Ram: The Most Virtuous Scion of Ikshvaku. India: Garuda Prakashan Pvt. Ltd., India (published 2025-08-10). pp. 1–272. ISBN   979-8-88575-268-8.