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ozone layer

(Encyclopedia)ozone layer or ozonosphere, region of the stratosphere containing relatively high concentrations of ozone, located at altitudes of 12–30 mi (19–48 km) above the earth's surface. Ozone in the ozone...

tundra

(Encyclopedia)tundra tŭnˈdrə [key], treeless plains of N North America and N Eurasia, lying principally along the Arctic Circle, on the coasts and islands of the Arctic Ocean, and to the north of the coniferous ...

transit instrument

(Encyclopedia)transit instrument or transit, telescope devised to observe stars as they cross the meridian and used for determining time. Its viewing tube swings on a rigid horizontal axis restricting its movements...

French Community

(Encyclopedia)French Community, established in 1958 by the constitution of the Fifth French Republic to replace the French Union. Its members consisted of the French Republic, which included metropolitan France (co...

Odessa, city, Ukraine

(Encyclopedia)Odessa , Rus. ədyĕˈsə [key], Ukr. Odesa, city (1989 pop. 1,115,000), capital of Odessa region, in Ukraine, a port on Odessa Bay of the Black Sea. The third largest Ukrainian city after Kiev and Kh...

shearwater

(Encyclopedia)shearwater, common name for members of the family Procellariidae, gull-like sea birds related to the petrel and the albatross and including the fulmar. Shearwaters are found on unfrozen saltwaters all...

Ross, Sir James Clark

(Encyclopedia)Ross, Sir James Clark, 1800–1862, British polar explorer and rear admiral. In 1818 he accompanied his uncle, Sir John Ross, in search of the Northwest Passage and commanded the Erebus. He later stud...

cromlech

(Encyclopedia)cromlech krŏmˈlĕk [key] [Welsh or Breton,=crooked stone], term that has changed in meaning from its original equivalent to dolmen. It later came to be used for a single standing stone and now usual...

Kiwanis International

(Encyclopedia)Kiwanis International kĭwäˈnĭs [key], community service organization of active and retired business and professional people, founded in 1915 at Detroit, Mich. Local Kiwanis clubs now exist in more...

celestial horizon

(Encyclopedia)celestial horizon, one axis of the altazimuth coordinate system. It is the great circle on the celestial sphere midway between the observer's zenith and nadir; it divides the celestial sphere into two...