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pothole

(Encyclopedia)pothole, in geology, cylindrical pit formed in the rocky channel of a turbulent stream. It is formed and enlarged by the abrading action of pebbles and cobbles that are carried by eddies, or circular ...

Pechenga

(Encyclopedia)Pechenga pyĕˈchĭn-gə [key], Finnish Petsamo, town, NW European Russia, an ice-free port at the head of Pechenga Fjord on the Barents Sea and near the Norwegian border. It is also the northern term...

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...

Scandinavia

(Encyclopedia)Scandinavia skănˌdĭnāˈvēə [key], region of N Europe. It consists of the kingdoms of Sweden, Norway, and Denmark; Finland and Iceland are usually considered part of Scandinavia. Physiographicall...

Columbia, river, Canada and the United States

(Encyclopedia)Columbia, river, c.1,210 mi (1,950 km) long, rising in Columbia Lake, SE British Columbia, Canada. It flows first NW in the Rocky Mt. Trench, then hooks sharply about the Selkirk Mts. to flow S throug...

Dworkin, Andrea

(Encyclopedia)Dworkin, Andrea, 1946–2019, American feminist writer and activist, b. Camden, N.J., B.A. Bennington College, 1968. A fierce opponent of pornography and of violence against women, she is best known f...

Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve

(Encyclopedia)Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, SE Alaska, near Juneau. The park (3,224,840 acres/1,305,603 hectares) and the preserve (58,406 acres/23,646 hectares) were established in 1925 as a national mon...

Jovian planets

(Encyclopedia)Jovian planets, the planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. They are all larger and more massive than the earth. Since they rotate faster, they are more flattened at the poles than are the terre...

avalanche

(Encyclopedia)avalanche, rapidly descending large mass of snow, ice, soil, rock, or mixtures of these materials, sliding or falling in response to the force of gravity. Avalanches, which are natural forms of erosio...

kayak

(Encyclopedia)kayak kīˈăk [key], Eskimo canoe, originally made of sealskin stretched over a framework of whalebone or driftwood. It is completely covered except for the opening in which the paddler sits. Since t...