Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

124 results found

Paektu, Mount

(Encyclopedia)Paektu or Baekdu, Mount, volcanic peak, 9,003 ft (2,744 m) high, in the Changbai Mts. on the border between North Korea and China. The highest mountain in Korea, it rises from a basalt lava plateau th...

asphalt

(Encyclopedia)asphalt ăsˈfôlt, –fălt [key], brownish-black substance used commonly in road making, roofing, and waterproofing. Chemically, it is a natural mixture of hydrocarbons. It varies in consistency fro...

Merapi, Mount

(Encyclopedia)Merapi, Mount məräˈpē [key] [Indonesian=mountain of fire], volcano, 9,551 ft (2,911 m) high, central Java, Indonesia, 20 mi (32 km) NNE of Yogyakarta. It is the most active of Indonesia's many vol...

Huaynaputina

(Encyclopedia)Huaynaputina, volcano, 15,912 ft (4,850 m) high, Moquegua region, S Peru, in the central Andes. A stratovolcano, it lies on the W rim of the Río Tambo canyon and has several ash cones within its crat...

phlogiston theory

(Encyclopedia)phlogiston theory flōjĭsˈtŏn [key], hypothesis regarding combustion. The theory, advanced by J. J. Becher late in the 17th cent. and extended and popularized by G. E. Stahl, postulates that in all...

Surtsey

(Encyclopedia)Surtsey, volcanic island, c.1.25 sq mi (3.2 sq km), S of Iceland in Vestmannaeyjar (Westman Islands). The island was formed by the eruption (Nov., 1963) of Sutur, an underwater volcano named for a gia...

volcano

(Encyclopedia)volcano, vents or fissures in the earth's crust through which gases, molten rock, or lava, and solid fragments are discharged. Their study is called volcanology. The term volcano is commonly applied b...

Charlottesville

(Encyclopedia)Charlottesville shärˈlətsvĭl [key], city (2020 pop. 46,553), seat of Albemarle co., central Va., on the ...

plywood

(Encyclopedia)plywood, manufactured board composed of an odd number of thin sheets of wood glued together under pressure with grains of the successive layers at right angles. Laminated wood differs from plywood in ...

Pelée

(Encyclopedia)Pelée pəlāˈ [key], volcano, 4,429 ft (1,350 m) high, on N Martinique, in the West Indies. On May 8, 1902, the day after the eruption of Soufrière on St. Vincent, Pelée also erupted, engulfing Sa...
 

Browse by Subject