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Great Southern Reef

(Encyclopedia)Great Southern Reef, rocky reef complex, c. 27,000 sq mi (70,000 sq km), extending almost 5,000 mi (8,100 km) along S and SW Australia coast, from Brisbane to Perth. The reef's temperate marine ecosys...

fulminate

(Encyclopedia)fulminate fŭlˈmĭnāt [key], any salt of fulminic acid, HONC, a highly unstable compound known only in solution. The term is most commonly applied to the explosive mercury (II) fulminate, also calle...

leaven

(Encyclopedia)leaven lĕvˈən [key], agent used to raise bread or other flour foods. Physical leavens include water vapor, which is released as steam at high temperatures (as in popovers), and air, which is incorp...

tortoiseshell

(Encyclopedia)tortoiseshell, horny, translucent, mottled plates covering the carapace of the tropical hawksbill turtle. The plates, too thin for most purposes in their original form, are usually built up in layers ...

gas, fuel

(Encyclopedia)gas, fuel, gaseous substance that burns in air and releases enough heat to be useful as a fuel, while also remaining sufficiently stable at ordinary temperatures to permit long-term storage without de...

foehn

(Encyclopedia)foehn fān, Ger. fön [key], warm, dry wind that occurs on the leeward slopes of a ridge of mountains. The term was originally applied to a wind of the Alps but is now used as a generic term for all w...

sweat

(Encyclopedia)sweat or perspiration, fluid secreted by the sweat glands of mammalian skin and containing water, salts, and waste products of body metabolism such as urea. The dissolved solid content of sweat is onl...

fuel

(Encyclopedia)fuel, material that can be burned or otherwise consumed to produce heat. The common fuels used in industry, transportation, and the home are burned in air. The carbon and hydrogen in fuel rapidly comb...

solution

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Solubility curves solution, in chemistry, homogeneous mixture of two or more substances. The dissolving medium is called the solvent, and the dissolved material is called the solute. A solutio...

lubrication

(Encyclopedia)lubrication, introduction of a substance between the contact surfaces of moving parts to reduce friction and to dissipate heat. A lubricant may be oil, grease, graphite, or any substance—gas, liquid...