Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

pothole

(Encyclopedia)pothole, in geology, cylindrical pit formed in the rocky channel of a turbulent stream. It is formed and enlarged by the abrading action of pebbles and cobbles that are carried by eddies, or circular ...

Kiruna

(Encyclopedia)Kiruna kēˈrünä [key], city (1990 pop. 20,470), Norrbotten co., N Sweden. The northernmost city in Sweden, it is the center of the Lapland iron-mining region. The ore is shipped on the Lapland rail...

sublimation, in chemistry

(Encyclopedia)sublimation sŭblĭmāˈshən [key], change of a solid substance directly to a vapor without first passing through the liquid state. The term is also used to describe the reverse process of the gas ch...

Sorokin, Vladimir Georgevich

(Encyclopedia)Sorokin, Vladimir Georgevich, 1955–, Russian writer. Trained as an engineer, he turned to Moscow's underground writing world in the 1980s. His iconoclastic work was banned by the Soviets; his first ...

Petropavlovsk, city, Russia

(Encyclopedia)Petropavlovsk kəmchätˈskē [key], city (1989 pop. 269,000), capital of Kamchatka Territory, Russian Far East. It is a major port and naval base on the Northern Sea Route, and there are shipyards an...

boulder, in geology

(Encyclopedia)boulder, large rock fragment formed by detachment from its parent consolidated rock by weathering and erosion. In engineering and geology, especially in the United States, the term is applied to loose...

Muir, Edwin

(Encyclopedia)Muir, Edwin, 1887–1959, British author, b. Orkney Islands, Scotland. He moved with his family to Glasgow in 1901, where he remained for 18 years. In 1919 he went to London and joined the staff on th...

senility

(Encyclopedia)senility sənilˈətē [key], deterioration of body and mind associated with old age. Indications of old age vary in the time of their appearance. Stooped posture, wrinkled skin, decrease in muscle st...

Scandinavian art and architecture

(Encyclopedia)Scandinavian art and architecture, works of art and structures created in the Scandinavian area of Europe. The Swedish sculptor Carl Milles, who worked extensively in the United States, was among th...

Spassky, Boris

(Encyclopedia)Spassky, Boris, 1937–, Soviet chess champion. A child prodigy, he became an international master at the age of 16 and in 1955, at age 18, he became an international grand master. Subsequently in int...