Columbia Encyclopedia

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serpentine

(Encyclopedia)serpentine sûrˈpəntēn, –tīn [key], hydrous silicate of magnesium. It occurs in crystalline form only as a pseudomorph having the form of some other mineral and is generally found in the form of...

Eocene epoch

(Encyclopedia)Eocene epoch ēˈəsēnˌ [key], second epoch of the Tertiary period in the Cenozoic era of geologic time, from approximately 54.9 to 38 million years ago. The Eocene in North America was marked by th...

quartz

(Encyclopedia)quartz, one of the commonest of all rock-forming minerals and one of the most important constituents of the earth's crust. Chemically, it is silicon dioxide, SiO2. It occurs in crystals of the hexagon...

King, B. B.

(Encyclopedia)King, B. B., 1925–2015, African-American blues singer and guitarist, b. near Indianola, Miss., as Riley B. King. He grew up poor in the Mississippi Delta region, began playing the guitar at 12, was ...

earth, in geology and astronomy

(Encyclopedia)CE5 A. Cross section of the earth, showing its shells B. Detailed cross section of the crust and upper mantle: The lithosphere consists of the hard rock in the crust and upper mantle, lying above t...

Gibraltar

(Encyclopedia)Gibraltar jĭbrôlˈtər [key], British overseas territory (2015 est. pop. 34,000), 2.5 sq mi (6.5 sq km), on a narrow, rocky peninsula extending into the Mediterranean Sea from SW Spain. Most of the ...

Meager, Mount

(Encyclopedia)Meager, Mount, volcano, 8,793 ft (2,680 m) high, SW British Columbia, Canada, 90 mi (150 km) N of Vancouver. It is the northernmost of the Cascade Range volcanoes and the second highest peak of the Mo...

melon

(Encyclopedia)melon, fruit of Cucumis melo, a plant of the family Curcurbitaceae (gourd family) native to Asia and now cultivated extensively in warm regions. There are many varieties, differing in taste, color, an...

Abu-Simbel

(Encyclopedia)Abu-Simbel ĭpˈsämbo͞olˈ [key], village, S Egypt, on the Nile River. Its two temples were hewn (c.1250 b.c.) out of rock cliffs during the reign of Ramses II. To avoid the rising waters caused by ...

Ruwenzori

(Encyclopedia)Ruwenzori ro͞oˌwənzōˈrē [key], mountain range, E central Africa, on the Uganda-Congo border, in the western arm of the Great Rift Valley between lakes Albert and Edward. This fault-block range i...