Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Hamilton, Mount

(Encyclopedia)Hamilton, Mount, peak 4,372 ft (1,333 m) high, W Calif., in the Coast Ranges, E of San Jose. It is the site of Lick Observatory (built 1876–88), directed by the Univ. of California Observatories. ...

Taiwan Strait

(Encyclopedia)Taiwan Strait, Chinese Taiwan haixia, arm of the Pacific Ocean, between China's Fujian coast and Taiwan, linking the East and South China seas. It contains the Pescadores. It is also called the Formos...

bight

(Encyclopedia)bight, broad bend or curve in a coastline, forming a large open bay. The New York bight, for example, is the curve in the coast described by the southern shore of Long Island and the eastern shore of ...

Oligocene epoch

(Encyclopedia)Oligocene epoch ŏlˈəgōsēnˌ [key], third epoch of the Tertiary period in the Cenozoic era of geologic time, lasting from 38 to 24 million years ago. More of North America was dry land during the ...

tsunami

(Encyclopedia)tsunami tso͝onäˈmē [key], series of catastrophic ocean waves generated by submarine movements, which may be caused by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides beneath the ocean, or an asteroid ...

Drake, Sir Francis

(Encyclopedia)Drake, Sir Francis, 1540?–1596, English navigator and admiral, first Englishman to circumnavigate the world (1577–80). In 1585, Drake commanded a fleet that sacked Vigo in Spain and burned São ...

Melville Island, Australia

(Encyclopedia)Melville Island, 2,240 sq mi (5,802 sq km), Northern Territory, N Australia, in the Timor Sea 16 mi (26 km) off the coast. It is 65 mi (105 km) long and 45 mi (72 km) wide and is separated from Bathur...

Morbihan

(Encyclopedia)Morbihan môrbēäNˈ [key], department (1990 pop. 623,100), NW France, in Brittany, on the Atlantic coast. Vannes is the capital. ...

Nass

(Encyclopedia)Nass năs [key], river, 236 mi (380 km) long, rising in the Coast Mts., W British Columbia, Canada, and flowing SW to Portland Inlet of the Pacific Ocean. It is navigable for 25 mi (40 km) and has val...

Rogue

(Encyclopedia)Rogue, river, c.200 mi (320 km) long, rising in SW Oreg., in the Cascade Range N of Crater Lake. It flows southwest and west through a fertile valley (noted for its orchard fruits) and then across the...