Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Guanabara

(Encyclopedia)Guanabara gwänäbäˈrä [key], former state, SE Brazil, on the Atlantic Ocean; since 1974, part of the state of Rio de Janeiro. Guanabara Bay, a deep inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, is noted for its be...

North Atlantic Drift

(Encyclopedia)North Atlantic Drift, warm ocean current in the northern part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is a continuation of the Gulf Stream, the merging point being at lat. 40°N and long. 60°W. Off the British Isl...

Saint Johns, river, United States

(Encyclopedia)Saint Johns, river, 285 mi (459 km) long, rising in SE Fla., N of Lake Okeechobee, and flowing N to Jacksonville, where it turns abruptly eastward and enters the Atlantic Ocean 28 mi (45 km) away. It ...

hydrothermal vent

(Encyclopedia)hydrothermal vent, crack along a rift or ridge in the deep ocean floor that spews out water heated to high temperatures by the magma under the earth's crust. Some vents are in areas of seafloor spread...

raven

(Encyclopedia)raven, common name for the largest members of the family Corvidae (crow family), ranging throughout the arctic and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The common raven, Corvus corax, is a gl...

narwhal

(Encyclopedia)narwhal närˈwəl [key], a small arctic whale, Monodon monoceros. The males of the species, and an occasional female, bear a single, tightly spiraled tusk that measures up to 9 ft (2.7 m) in length. ...

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 ...

Putnam, George Palmer, 1887–1950, American author and explorer

(Encyclopedia)Putnam, George Palmer, 1887–1950, American author and explorer, b. Rye, N.Y.; grandson of G. P. Putnam, founder of the publishing firm. He led two expeditions to the Arctic—one in 1926, under the ...

Colorado, river, Argentina

(Encyclopedia)Colorado kōlōräˈᵺō [key], river, c.550 mi (885 km) long, rising from tributaries in the Andes and flowing SE across S central Argentina to the Atlantic Ocean. It marks the northern limit of Pat...

Grant, George Munro

(Encyclopedia)Grant, George Munro, 1835–1902, Canadian educator and author, b. Nova Scotia, educated at the Univ. of Glasgow. From 1877 to 1902 he was principal of Queen's Univ., Kingston, Ont.; under him the uni...