Memorial to Robert Ingersoll Roth 1899-1979 JOHN W. SKINNER 2605 Lockheed Drive, Midland, 79701

Robert Ingersoll Roth died July 22, 1979, following an illness of several months, in Wichita Falls, Texas, where he had resided for 45 years. He is survived by his wife, Lillian Gene Roth. Bob was born September 20, 1899, to Henry and Eugenia Goess Roth in Trenton, New Jersey. In 1912 his family moved to California, where he graduated from South Pasadena High School in 1920. That autumn he enrolled at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington, where he earned a bachelor of science degree in chemistry in 1925 and a master of science degree in geology in 1926. His master’s thesis was on “Geology of the central part of the Mount Vernon Quadrangle, State of Washington.” In 1926 Bob married Lillian Gene Louis, whom he had met while they were both students at the University of Washington, and that same year he went to work for the Atlantic Oil Producing Company in Tulsa, Oklahoma, as a sub­ surface geologist and micropaleontologist. Late in 1928 the Indian Territory Illuminating Oil Company of Bartlesville, Okla­ homa, discovered the prolific Oklahoma City oil field and began a rapid expansion of its exploration activities, with a corresponding increase in geological personnel. Bob was invited to join the company as a regional stratigrapher and to establish a geological laboratory in Bartlesville. This position involved surface and subsurface studies ranging from the Black Hills of South Dakota southward to the Marathon Uplift of western Texas, and from the Ozark Mountains westward to the Rocky Mountains. The company had accumulated sets of cuttings from a large number of wells in Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas, although until that time no member of the geological staff had training or experience working with such samples. Therefore, the preparation of detailed sample logs from these cuttings was a task high on Bob’s list of priorities. This work was supplemented by collecting trips to outcrops in the Black Hills, the front range of the Rocky Mountains, central and eastern Kansas, Oklahoma, north-central Texas, and the mountainous areas of western Texas. During the early years of his professional career, one of his primary interests was the study and use of ostracods in surface and subsurface correlations, and he published a number of papers on the subject. Whereas these were quite useful for correla­ tion purposes in the older Paleozoic sediments, many of the species in the Pennsylvanian and were long-ranging or smooth, unornamented forms which were difficult to identify, especially since, in well cuttings, often only fragments were available for study. In 1928 Dunbar and Condra had published a definitive study of the Pennsyl­ vanian fusulinids of Nebraska and had shown that these foraminifers had great potential as guide fossils in the correlation of the upper Paleozoic marine sediments. With this in mind Bob encouraged his associate, John W. Skinner, to undertake a serious study 2 THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA of the fusulinids of the Pennsylvanian and Permian, using Bob’s extensive outcrop collections for that purpose. In 1934 Bob was employed as a surface and subsurface stratigrapher in the North Texas Division office of the Humble Oil & Refining Company (now Exxon Company, USA) in Wichita Falls, Texas. He spent the remainder of his career with the Humble Company, retiring in 1964. While he was still in Bartlesville, he had become interested in the Permian and Mesozoic red beds of western Oklahoma, northwestern Texas, and northern New Mexico. After moving to Wichita Falls, he embarked on an extensive study of these sediments. This involved both surface and subsurface work, and during the next twenty- odd years he published a number of papers on the subject. Some of his ideas were controversial and even contrary to generally accepted concepts, but these only served to stimulate interest in the subject and to impel others to engage in serious study of this part of the stratigraphic column. Bob had an insatiable and consuming interest in everything pertaining to geology, and he was happiest when climbing over outcrops in the field. Although his position with Humble was nominally that of stratigrapher, he had his share of experience as a production geologist, too. Until after World War II, the North Texas office was a rela­ tively small one, and all members of the staff shared a variety of duties. As a result, Bob’s experience as a petroleum geologist was quite varied. Bob was active in a number of professional organizations. He was a member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists and of the Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists. In 1927 he was elected to membership in the Liver­ pool Geological Society, England, and he became a Fellow of the Geological Society of America in 1938. He served as president of the North Texas Geological Society during 1941-1942, and he was made an Honorary Lifetime Member of that organiza­ tion in 1961. In 1959 the North Texas Oil and Gas Association awarded Bob a Certifi­ cate of Appreciation for “lengthy and meritorious service to the Oil Industry.” In 1971 Bob donated to the Oil Information Library in Wichita Falls a collection of more than a thousand sample description logs, complete with paleontologic data, from wells distributed throughout many of the geological provinces of the United States. Much of the work was concentrated in the mid-continent area and included data from 49 counties in Kansas, 58 counties in Oklahoma, and 148 counties in Texas. This gift, which was designated “the Robert Roth collection,” also included specialized geologic maps, cross sections, and field-trip guidebooks. In 1976-1977 his name was selected by the Editorial Board of “ Personalities of the South” to appear in that year’s edition. In 1977 Midwestern State University honored Bob by establishing the Robert Roth Scholarship in Geology at that institution. Although he retired from the Humble Company in 1964, Bob maintained an active interest in petroleum geology for the remainder of his life. During his 45 years in Wichita Falls, he made many friends and became well known for his extensive geo­ logical knowledge and for his generosity in sharing that knowledge with his colleagues. He is greatly missed by all those who were fortunate enough to know him. MEMORIAL TO ROBERT INGERSOLL ROTH 3

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY OF R. I. ROTH 1928 Monoceratina, a new genus of ostracoda from the Pennsylvanian of Oklahoma: Journal of Paleontology, v. 2, p. 15-19. 1929 A comparative faunal chart of the Mississippian and Morrow formations of Oklahoma and Arkansas: Oklahoma Geological Survey, Circular No. 18, 16 p. ------A revision of the ostracod genus Kirkbya and subgenus Amphissites: Publica­ tions of the Wagner Free Institute of Science, v. 1, 56 p. ------Some ostracods from the Haragan Marl, of Oklahoma: Journal of Paleontology, v. 3, p. 327-372. 1930 Regional extent of Marmaton and Cherokee Mid-Continent Pennsylvanian forma­ tions: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, v. 14, p. 1249-1278. ------(and Skinner, J. W.) The fauna of the McCoy Formation, Pennsylvanian of Colorado: Journal of Paleontology, v. 4, p. 332-352. 1932 Evidence indicating the limits of in Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas: Journal of Geology, v. 40, p. 688-725. 1937 Custer Formation of Texas: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, v. 21, p. 421-474. 1941 (and Newell, N. D., and Burma, B. H.) Permian pelecypods in the lower Quarter­ master Formation, Texas: Journal of Paleontology, v. 15, p. 312-317. 1942 West Texas barred basin: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 53, p. 1659-1674. 1945 Permian Pease River group of Texas: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 56, p. 893-907. 1949 Paleogeology of the panhandle of Texas: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 60, p. 1671-1687. 1955 Paleogeology of panhandle of Texas: American Association of Petroleum Geolo­ gists Bulletin, v. 39, p. 422-443. 1960 Swisher gabbroic terrane of Texas panhandle: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, v. 44, p. 1775-1784. 1966 (with Kauffman, A. E.) Upper Pennsylvanian and lower Permian fusulinids from north central Texas: Cushman Foundation for Foraminiferal Research, Special Publication No. 8, 49 p.

Printed in U.S.A. 11/81