Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

astrolabe

(Encyclopedia)astrolabe ăsˈtrəlāb [key], instrument probably used originally for measuring the altitudes of heavenly bodies and for determining their positions and movements. Although its origin is ancient and ...

Ross, Sir James Clark

(Encyclopedia)Ross, Sir James Clark, 1800–1862, British polar explorer and rear admiral. In 1818 he accompanied his uncle, Sir John Ross, in search of the Northwest Passage and commanded the Erebus. He later stud...

McClure Strait

(Encyclopedia)McClure Strait, arm of the Beaufort Sea, c.170 mi (270 km) long and 60 mi (100 km) wide, Northwest Territories, Canada. It extends W from Viscount Melville Sound, between Melville and Eglinton islands...

Kongsfjorden

(Encyclopedia)Kongsfjorden kôngsˌfyôrˈdən [key] [Kings Bay], inlet of the Arctic Ocean, 14 mi (23 km) long, NW Spitsbergen, Svalbard. Ny-Ålesund is on the inlet. The scenic fjord is often visited by tourist v...

Sedley, Sir Charles

(Encyclopedia)Sedley, Sir Charles, 1639?–1701, English dramatist and poet, b. London. Famous for his wit, he was a member of the intimate circle of young rakes at the court of Charles II. He wrote several plays, ...

De Long, George Washington

(Encyclopedia)De Long, George Washington də lôngˈ [key], 1844–81, American arctic explorer, b. New York City, grad. Annapolis, 1865. In 1873 he was assigned to the Juniata, which was sent to the arctic to sear...

Northeast Passage

(Encyclopedia)Northeast Passage, water route along the northern coast of Europe and Asia, between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Beginning in the 15th cent., efforts were made to find a new all-water route to Ind...

Petermann, August Heinrich

(Encyclopedia)Petermann, August Heinrich ouˈgo͝ost hīnˈrĭkh pāˈtərmän [key], 1822–78, German geographer, an authority on the geography of Africa and the Arctic. He had (1847–54) a cartographical establ...

Vadsø

(Encyclopedia)Vadsø vädˈsö [key], town (1995 pop. 6,410), capital of Finnmark co., NE Norway, an ice-free arctic port on the Varangerfjord. It is a fishing and fish-processing center and a trade center for rein...

permafrost

(Encyclopedia)permafrost, permanently frozen soil, subsoil, or other deposit, characteristic of arctic and some subarctic regions; similar conditions are also found at very high altitudes in mountain ranges. In 196...