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puna

(Encyclopedia)puna po͞oˈnä [key], high plateau region, 12,000 to 16,000 ft (3,658–4,877 m) high, between ridges of the Andes in Peru and Bolivia. Arid, cold, and in general, covered by short coarse grass, the ...

hypertension

(Encyclopedia)hypertension or high blood pressure, elevated blood pressure resulting from an increase in the amount of blood pumped by the heart or from increased resistance to the flow of blood through the small a...

spring, in geology

(Encyclopedia)spring, in geology, natural flow of water from the ground or from rocks, representing an outlet for the water that has accumulated in permeable rock strata underground. Some of the water that falls as...

senate, Roman

(Encyclopedia)senate, Roman, governing council of the Roman republic. It was the outgrowth of the council of the kings. By the 3d cent. b.c. the senate was a group of 300 men with a high degree of political, legisl...

Catalan literature

(Encyclopedia)Catalan literature, like the Catalan language, developed in close connection with that of Provence. In both regions the rhymed songs of the troubadours flourished as an art form from the 11th to the 1...

Bancroft, George

(Encyclopedia)Bancroft, George, 1800–1891, American historian and public official, b. Worcester, Mass. He taught briefly at Harvard and then at the Round Hill School in Northampton, Mass., of which he was a found...

die-casting

(Encyclopedia)die-casting, process by which molten metal is forced by a plunger or compressed air into a metallic die and the pressure maintained until the metal has solidified. Die castings are accurate, are sharp...

Pavlof Volcano

(Encyclopedia)Pavlof Volcano, active volcano, 8,177 ft (2,493 m) high, W Alaska Peninsula, SW Alaska, on the W shore of Pavlof Bay. It and its neighboring twin volcano, Pavlof Sister, 7,028 ft (2,142 m) high, are l...

Silicon Valley

(Encyclopedia)Silicon Valley, an industrial region, approximately 20 mi (32 km) long, in the Santa Clara Valley between Palo Alto and San Jose, mainly in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, W central Calif., where ...

Confederation Bridge

(Encyclopedia)Confederation Bridge, Fr. Pont de la Confédération, bridge that joins Borden-Carleton in Prince Edward Island with Cape Jourimain in New Brunswick, Canada. Spanning the Northumberland Strait at its ...