Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

green flash

(Encyclopedia)green flash or emerald flash, a refractive phenomenon of the atmosphere where the top edge of the setting (or, less frequently, rising) sun will momentarily turn emerald green. The green color lasts f...

Afrofuturism

(Encyclopedia) Afrofuturism, artistic and cultural movement that is based on the wedding of African diasporic themes with modern technology and elements of science fiction and fantasy. The term is gener...

Valtellina

(Encyclopedia)Valtellina vältāl-lēˈnä [key], Alpine valley of the upper Adda River, c.75 mi (120 km) long, in Lombardy, N Italy, extending from Lake Como to the Stelvio Pass. The main towns are Sondrio and Tir...

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...

Nen, river, China

(Encyclopedia)Nen nônˈnē [key], river, 740 mi (1,191 km) long, rising in the Yilehuli (Ilkuri) Mts., N Heilongjiang prov., NE China, and flowing south along the east side of the Da Hinggan (Great Khingan) range ...

Lehigh

(Encyclopedia)Lehigh lēˈhī [key], river, 103 mi (166 km) long, rising in NE Pa. and flowing generally SE to the Delaware River at Easton. It flows through the Lehigh Valley, where rich anthracite deposits made A...

Chichimec

(Encyclopedia)Chichimec chēchēmĕkˈ [key], general term for the peoples of the Valley of Mexico between the periods of Toltec ascendancy and Aztec ascendancy. Before the 11th cent. the Chichimec were nomadic peo...

Cuyahoga

(Encyclopedia)Cuyahoga kīˌəhōˈgə [key], river, c.80 mi (130 km) long, flowing SW through Cuyahoga Falls, then N to Lake Erie, NE Ohio, forming part of Cleveland harbor. By the late 1960s, the Cuyahoga was one...

Alvord, Clarence Walworth

(Encyclopedia)Alvord, Clarence Walworth ălˈvərd [key], 1868–1928, American historian, b. Greenfield, Mass. He became (1901) an instructor in history at the Univ. of Illinois (Ph.D., 1908) and was full professo...

Zeravshan

(Encyclopedia)Zeravshan zyĕrəfshänˈ [key], river, c.460 mi (740 km) long, rising in the Turkistan Range of the Pamir-Alai mountain system, in Tajikistan. It flows westward through the agricultural Zeravshan val...