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state flowers

(Encyclopedia)state flowers. Each state of the United States has designated, usually by legislative action, one flower as its floral emblem; the rose has been designated by Congress as the national flower of the Un...

Granada, city, Spain

(Encyclopedia)Granada, city, capital of Granada prov., S Spain, in Andalusia, at the confluence of the Darro and Genil rivers. Formerly (17th cent.) a silk center, Gr...

Atlantic City

(Encyclopedia)Atlantic City, city (2020 pop. 39,497), Atlantic co., SE N.J., an Atlantic resort and convention center; settled c.1790, inc. 1854. Situated on Absecon Island, a barrier island 10 mi (16.1...

Long Valley

(Encyclopedia)Long Valley, caldera, c.10 by 20 mi (15 by 30 km), Mono co., E Calif., at the eastern edge of the Sierra Nevada. Formed by a catastrophic eruption c.730,000 years ago, Long Valley and nearby areas hav...

borax

(Encyclopedia)borax or sodium tetraborate decahydrate sōˈdēəm tĕˌtrəbôrˈāt dĕkˌəhīˈdrāt [key], chemical compound, Na2B4O7·10H2O; sp. gr. 1.73; slightly soluble in cold water; very soluble in hot wa...

batholith

(Encyclopedia)batholith, enormous mass of intrusive igneous rock, that is, rock made of once-molten material that has solidified below the earth's surface (see rock). Batholiths usually are granitic (see granite) i...

Miocene epoch

(Encyclopedia)Miocene epoch mīˈəsēn [key], fourth epoch of the Tertiary period in the Cenozoic era of geologic time (see Geologic Timescale, tablegeologic timescale, table), lasting from around 24.6 to 5.1 mill...

Central Valley

(Encyclopedia)Central Valley, great trough of central Calif., c.450 mi (720 km) long and c.50 mi (80 km) wide, between the Sierra Nevada and the Coast Ranges. The Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers drain much of the...

chaparral

(Encyclopedia)chaparral chăpərălˈ [key], type of plant community in which shrubs are dominant. It occurs usually in regions having from 10 to 20 in. (25–50 cm) of rainfall annually and with a Mediterranean-ty...

Cai Guo-Qiang

(Encyclopedia)Cai Guo-Qiang, 1957–, Chinese painter and a sculptor especially known for using gunpowder as a medium and explosions and fireworks as means of artistic expression, b. Quanzhou, Fujian prov., studied...