Memorial to Philip A. Chenoweth1919-1994

A LLA N P. BEN N ISO NTulsa, Oklahoma

The Tulsa scientific community suffered a grievous loss in the passing of Phil Chenoweth, an outstanding geological consultant and com m unity leader. A lthough favorable com m ents about the deceased may som etim es be over­stated in obituaries, there is no need for that in Phil’s case.In spite of physical handicaps and advancing years, he not only maintained a heavy work load, but also headed up the Tulsa Science Foundation, dedicated to the establishment of a world-class museum of science and technology in the Tulsa area. His unrelenting drive for excellence in this and o ther en terprises apparently overw helm ed h is already weakened heart, and he died, figuratively, with his boots on in the Western tradition, by working on the last day of his life, October 4, 1994.

Phil was born in Chicago in 1919, and served his country in World War II in North Africa and Italy with the Army Signal Corps. After his honor­able discharge, he received a doctorate at Columbia University in New York City in 1949 while also employed by Sinclair Oil Corporation doing geological research on parts of the United States, Cuba, Ethiopia, Yemen, and Panama. He also found time for summer work for the New York Science Service. He spent two years as instructor of geology at Amherst College in Mas­sachusetts. From 1951 to 1954 he was employed by Sinclair Oil and Gas Company as explo­ration geologist in Ardmore, Oklahoma, where he met an attractive young lady named Marilyn Myers. They were married on April 11, 1952. He continued his stratigraphic studies o f southern Oklahoma and northern Texas until 1954, when he was hired by the University of Oklahoma as associate professor of geology. There, he directed graduate students in their petroleum research leading toward 22 masters’ theses and one doctoral dissertation, and he was honored with an “Outstanding Teacher Award” in 1958.

In 1960 he returned to Sinclair Oil and Gas Company in Tulsa as staff exploration geolo­gist, conducting regional exploration on a worldwide basis. He researched conversion of coal to oil and gas, wrote scientific papers, and trained many young, developing geologists.

In 1968 he decided to become a consulting geologist, and attracted many clients in both m ajor and independent oil companies, exploration firms, utility companies, and government agencies. He also produced tectonic and geological maps for publication by Penn Well and by the American Association of Petroleum Geologists. He prepared guidebooks and geological arti­cles for the Tulsa Geological Society. In addition to these diverse activities, he was active in his church and served the last three years of his life as the chairman of the Tulsa Science Founda­tion with its many educational programs.

He belonged to many professional associations, including the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, American Institute o f Professional Geologists, Geological Society of America, Tulsa Geological Society, Oklahoma City Geological Society, Rocky Mountain Asso­ciation of Geologists, International Society of Energy Advocates, and Explorers Club.

Throughout his years in the energy business and academic world, Phil Chenoweth had

Geological Society of America Memorials, v. 26, July, 1995 19

20 THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA

made a host of friends among geoscientists, engineers, oil-related people, university professors, and mining geologists on a global basis, and these friendships and his considerable technical knowledge constituted a major intangible resource. He will be missed by many, especially his wife, Marilyn, two daughters, Kathryn Reese and Amy Chenoweth, and three grandchildren.

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY OF P. A. CHENOWETH1947 Pegmatite dikes of Manhattan Island, New York [M.S. thesis]: New York, Columbia

University.1949 Statistical treatment of facies change [abs.]: Geological Society of America Bulletin,

v. 60, no. 12, pt. 2, p. 1967.1950 Trentonian paleogeography in northwestern New York [abs.]: Geological Society of

America Bulletin, v. 61, no. 12, pt. 2, p. 1450.1952 Statistical methods applied to Trentonian stratigraphy in New York: Geological Society of

America Bulletin, v. 63, no. 6, p. 521-560.1955 Unusual type of ripple mark [abs.]: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 66, no. 12,

pt. 2, p. 1541-1542.1957 Sources of subsurface data: Ponca City, Oklahoma, Desk and Derrick Club, Petroleum

Geology Short Course, p. 1-13.1958 Comparison of features of the earth and the moon [abs.]: Geological Society of America

Bulletin, v. 69, no. 12, pt. 2, p. 1545.1959 Sycamore and related formations of southern Oklahoma: Biennial Geological Sympo­

sium, Proceedings, p. 81-95 (reprinted in Tulsa Geological Society Digest, v. 27,p. 113-123).

----- An unusual type of ripple mark: Oklahoma Geology Notes, v. 19, no. 8, p. 154-156.----- An outlier on the Muenster-Waurika Arch: Oklahoma Geology Notes, v. 19, no. 9,

p. 192-194.----- Is there oil and gas in the Ouachita Mountains?: Oklahoma Geology Notes, v. 19, no. 10,

p. 199-208.----- Recumbent folding in the Velma area: Oklahoma Geology Notes, v. 19, no. 10,

p. 219-220.----- Source of the Vamoosa quartzite pebbles: Oklahoma Geology Notes, v. 19, no. 11,

p. 229-232.----- Late Paleozoic Llanorian rivers in Oklahoma: Oklahoma Geology Notes, v. 19, no. 11,

p. 232-235.1960 A Canyon reef on southern Oklahoma: Oklahoma Geology Notes, v. 20, no. 1, p. 3-6.----- Starfish impressions from the Hilltop shale: Oklahoma Geology Notes, v. 20, no. 2,

p. 35-36.----- Ouachita Mountains do have oil and gas potential: World Oil, v. 151, no. 2, p. 94-100.1962 Comparison of the ocean floor with the lunar surface: Geological Society of America

Bulletin, v. 73, no. 2, p. 199-210.1963 Unconformity analysis [abs.]: Tulsa Geological Society Digest, v. 31, p. 258.1964 Oil and gas exploration developments in Oklahoma during 1963: American Association

of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, v. 48, no. 6, p. 852-874.1965 An exotic boulder in the Gunter sandstone, northeastern Oklahoma; Oklahoma Geology

Notes, v. 25, no. 1, p. 3-5.----- Oil and gas exploration developments, Oklahoma and Panhandle of Texas during 1964:

American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, v. 49, no. 6, p. 710-727.----- Caney River arch, a pre-Seminole uplift in northeastern Oklahoma: Oklahoma Geology

Notes, v. 25, no. 11, p. 279-286.

MEMORIAL TO PHILIP A. CHENOWETH 21

------North Dakota geological specimen in Nanking: Science, v. 148, p. 1172.------Developments in Oklahoma and the Texas panhandle: American Association of Petroleum

Geologists Bulletin, v. 50, no. 6, p. 1183-1194.1966 Type section of the Oologah limestone: Oklahoma Geology Notes, v. 26, no. 7,

p. 193-208.------A Pennsylvanian slate-pencil urchin, northeast Oklahoma: Oklahoma Geology Notes,

v. 26, no. 12, p. 279-282.1967 Unconformity analysis: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, v. 51,

no. 1, p. 4-27.------Viola oil and gas fields, Mid-Continent area, in Tulsa Geological Society symposium

volume, Viola-Femvale-Sylvan: Tulsa Geological Society Digest, v. 34, p. 110-118.------Early Paleozoic overlap, northeast Oklahoma [abs.]: Geological Society of America

Southwestern Section Meeting.------A Biblical tornado: Science, v. 155, p. 954.------Early Paleozoic overlap, southern Mid-Continent [abs.]: American Association of

Petroleum Geologists Regional Meeting, Wichita, Kansas.------Early Paleozoic overlap, southern Mid-Continent: Oklahoma Geology Notes, v. 27,

no. 10, p. 179.------Southern Mid-Continent: Past, present, future: Oil and Gas Journal, v. 65, no. 49,

p. 130-136.1968 Early Paleozoic (Arbuckle) overlap, southern Mid-Continent United States: American

Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, v. 52, no. 9, p. 1670-1688.------Geology of the Tulsa metropolitan area: I\ilsa Geological Society Field Trip Guidebook,

p. 37.------Is the grass really greener in those distant pastures?: Oil and Gas Journal, v. 66, no. 45,

p. 154-158.------(with Bennison, Allan) Geologic map of the Tulsa metropolitan area, in Tulsa’s physical

environment: T\ilsa Geological Society, v. 36, p. 84.1969 New concepts explored as interest in marine geology grows: Oil and Gas Journal, v. 67,

no. 29, p. 106-107.------Early Paleozoic overlap, southern Mid-Continent, United States: Discussion and reply:

American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, v. 53, no. 7, p. 1519-1521.1970 Exploration trends optimistic for 1970: World Oil, v. 170, no. 5, p. 58-59,71.------Geology of oil and gas occurrence in Pennsylvanian rocks, Mid-Continent region [abs.]:

American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, v. 54, no. 5, p. 840.------Geology of oil and gas occurrence in Pennsylvanian rocks, Mid-Continent region: Okla­

homa Geology Notes, v. 30, no. 4, p. 85-86.------Bahama waters provide new carbonate rock data: World Oil, June 1970, p. 91-99.1971 Unconformity traps [abs.]: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, v. 55,

no. 2, p. 333.1972 Unconformity traps, in Stratigraphic oil and gas fields—Classification, exploration meth­

ods and case histories: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Memoir 16,p. 42-46.

1974 Bibliography of the petroleum geology of mainland China, partially annotated: Privately printed, 47 p.

1975 Potentiometric map of the Arbuckle formation in Kansas, Oklahoma and southwestern Missouri, in Collins, A. Gene, Geochemistry of oilfield waters: New York, Elsevier, 496 p.

------Map of the chloride concentrations in the Arbuckle formation waters in Kansas and Okla­homa, in Collins, A. Gene, Geochemistry of oilfield waters: New York, Elsevier, 496 p.

1976 Memorial to Marshall Kay: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, v. 60, no. 7, p. 1129-1130.

1979 Geological prospecting for Mid-Continent sandstones, in Pennsylvanian sandstones of the Mid-Continent: Tulsa Geological Society Special Publication no. 1, p. 13-33.

1982 Ouachita Mountain hydrocarbons [abs.]: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 14, no. 3, p. 107 (reprinted in Oklahoma Geology Notes, v. 42, no. 2, p. 89).

1983 Principal structural features of Oklahoma [map]: T\ilsa, Oklahoma, Penn Well.------Formation correlator of Texas and the Mid-Continent [chart]: Tulsa, Oklahoma, Penn Well

Publishing Co., two sheets.1984 (with McBride, M. H.) Formation correlator of the Rocky Mountains and Western Over-

thrust Belt [chart]: Tulsa, Oklahoma, Penn Well Publishing Co., two sheets.------(with McBride, M. H.) Formation correlator of the Appalachians and eastern interior

states [chart]: Tulsa, Oklahoma, Penn Well Publishing Co.----- (with Bennison, Allan) Geological highway map of the northern Great Plains region:

Tulsa, Oklahoma, American Association of Petroleum Geologists.----- (with McBride, M. H.) Formation correlator of the Great Basin, Pacific Coast states and

Alaska [chart]: Tulsa, Oklahoma, Penn Well Publishing Co., two sheets.----- Principal structural features of Kansas [map]: Tulsa, Oklahoma, PennWell Publishing Co.----- (with McBride, M. H.) Formation correlator of the Gulf Coast and Atlantic seaboard

[chart]: Tulsa, Oklahoma, PennWell Publishing Co.------Southern Mid-Continent responses to the Acadian Orogeny, in Limestones of the Mid-

Continent: Tulsa Geological Society Special Publication 2, p. 247-258.------(with McBride, M. H.) Structural features of Louisiana [map]: Tulsa, Oklahoma, Penn­

Well Publishing Co.1985 Hydrocarbon distribution: Ouachita overthrust belt: Oil and Gas Journal, July 22,

p. 122-130.1986 Hydrocarbons of the Ouachita Belt, in Hatcher, R. D., Jr., et al., eds., The Appalachian-

Ouachita orogen in the United States: Boulder, Colorado, Geological Society of America, Geology of North America, v. F2.

1988 Basement rocks of the Mid-Continent [map]: in Petroleum geology of the Mid-Continent: Tulsa Geological Society Special Publication 3, p. 12.

1989 Viola Oil and Gas Fields of the Mid-Continent (reprint), in Petroleum Geology of the Mid-Continent: Tulsa Geological Society Special Publication 3, p. 48.

----- Anadarko Newsletter. Privately published, twelve issues.1991 Review of Power From the Earth, by Thomas Gold: American Association of Petroleum

Geologists Bulletin, v. 75, no. 1, p. 191-192.

22 THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA

The (geological Society of ¿America3 3 0 0 Penrose Place • P.O. Box 9 1 4 0 • Boulder, Colorado 80301 Printed in U.S.A. on Recycled Paper 7/95