DR. WILLIAM ROMEY’S SCANDINAVIAN SUITE

While a professor of geology at St. Lawrence University, Dr. William Romey (Emeriti) inspired many students with his boundless curiosity and innovative teaching methods, as exemplified by his reception of the Neil Miner award from the National Association of Geology Teachers in 2006 at the national Geological Society of America meeting in Philadelphia. While his love of petrology was focused locally, amounting to numerous papers on Adirondack igneous suites, during the 1970’s while on sabbatical, Dr. Romey (1930-2017) collected over 300 samples from the Baltic Shield across southern Norway, Sweden, and Finland. Romey used Barth and Faulkum (1963)’s “Geologic Excursions in Norway” as a guide for sampling key lithologies throughout the region. The suite colloquially known as “Romey’s Freaking Rocks” after the label on the storage cabinet which first contained them, includes many classic localities and a wide array of igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks, as well as ores. The suite has served as a resource for student projects in petrology, and as an excellent teaching collection. Acquired information including petrography, x-ray diffraction, and x-ray fluorescence data has added value to the collection. My project involves the preparation of thin-sections and analytical samples with the ultimate goal of developing a set of illustrated petrographic reports for twenty-two of the samples collected, adding to earlier efforts by other students. I specifically aim to compile data from igneous and metamorphic rocks that will be used for laboratory and “Rock of Week” exercises in our recently revamped petrology course. Each of the reports will include a map of the sample location, its geological context, tables with x-ray data, full thin-section scans, photomicrographs, and a petrographic summary on the minerals, textures, alterations, and unique features. A summary of the collection and several examples of the reports will be displayed on my poster at the meeting. Dr. Romey’s efforts 50 years ago continue to influence the teaching and learning of petrology at St. Lawrence University.