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Van Halen, Eddie

(Encyclopedia)Van Halen, Eddie (Edward Lodewijk Van Halen), 1955–2020, American rock musician and song writer, b. Amsterdam, Netherlands; his family moved to California when he was young. He and brother Alex form...

catchment area

(Encyclopedia)catchment area or drainage basin, area drained by a stream or other body of water. The limits of a given catchment area are the heights of land—often called drainage divides, or watersheds—separat...

Blume, Peter

(Encyclopedia)Blume, Peter blo͞om [key], 1906–92, American painter, b. Russia. Blume immigrated to the United States in 1911. In his early work, such as The Parade (1930; Mus. of Modern Art, New York City), he s...

Americas, antiquity and prehistory of the

(Encyclopedia)Americas, antiquity and prehistory of the, study of the origins of the aboriginal peoples of the Americas. Archaeologists believe humans had entered and occupied much of the Americas by the end of the...

hogback

(Encyclopedia)hogback, sharp-crested ridge with steep slopes on both sides, formed by the erosion of steeply tilted rock layers. Hogbacks are commonly formed along the eroded flanks of large, tightly folded anticli...

soapstone

(Encyclopedia)soapstone or steatite stēˈətīt [key], metamorphic rock of which the characteristic and usually chief mineral is talc, but which also contains varying parts of chlorite, mica, tremolite, quartz, ma...

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 ...

Natural Bridges National Monument

(Encyclopedia)Natural Bridges National Monument, 7,636 acres (3,093 hectares), SE Utah; est. 1908. Located in an area of colored cliffs and box canyons, the monument contains three huge natural sandstone bridges: O...

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