Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Main

(Encyclopedia)Main mīn [key], river, c.310 mi (500 km) long, formed near Kulmbach, E central Germany, by the confluence of the Roter Main and the Weisser Main, both of which rise in the Fichtelgebirge. It then win...

wind shear

(Encyclopedia)wind shear, a sudden, drastic change in wind direction or speed over a comparatively short distance. Most winds travel horizontally, as does most wind shear, but under certain conditions, including th...

Agamemnon

(Encyclopedia)Agamemnon ăˌgəmĕmˈnŏn [key], in Greek mythology, leader of the Greek forces in the Trojan War; king of Mycenae (or Argos). He and Menelaus were sons of Atreus and suffered the curse laid upon Pe...

wind instrument

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Wind instruments wind instrument, in music, any instrument whose tone is produced by a vibrating column of air. In the pipe organ the column of air is set into vibration by mechanical means. O...

Nafud

(Encyclopedia)Nafud nĕfo͞odˈ [key], desert area in the northern part of the Arabian peninsula, occupying a great oval depression; 180 mi (290 km) long and 140 mi (225 km) wide. This area of red sand is surrounde...

Galápagos Islands

(Encyclopedia)Galápagos Islands gəlăpˈəgōs [key] [Span.,=tortoises], archipelago and province, 3,029 sq mi ...

Zapotec

(Encyclopedia)Zapotec zäˈpətĕk, säˈ– [key], indigenous people of Mexico, primarily in S Oaxaca and on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. Little is known of the origin of the Zapotec. Unlike most native peoples of ...

Neisse

(Encyclopedia)Neisse lo͞osāˈshən [key], Czech Lužická Nisa, Pol. Nysa Łużycka, c.140 mi (230 km) long, rises in the Sudetes, N central Czech Republic, and flows generally N to the Oder River near Guben, Ger...

pumice

(Encyclopedia)pumice pŭmˈĭs [key], volcanic glass formed by the solidification of lava that is permeated with gas bubbles. Usually found at the surface of a lava flow, it is colorless or light gray and has the g...

Shenandoah National Park

(Encyclopedia)Shenandoah National Park, 198,081 acres (80,195 hectares), N Va., extending 80 mi (129 km) along the crest of the Blue Ridge. Authorized in 1926, it was fully established as a national park in 1935. S...