Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Ofen ōˈfən [key], Alpine pass, 7,070 ft (2,155 m) high, Grisons canton, E Switzerland. The Ofen Pass Road links the Engadine Valley with the Italian Tyrol. ...

(Encyclopedia) Rephaim rēfāˈĭm [key], in the Bible. 1 Pre-Israelite race of giants. They were also referred to simply as “giants.” 2 Valley, SW of Jerusalem. ...

(Encyclopedia) Caney Fork, river, 144 mi (232 km) long, rising in central Tenn. and flowing NW to the Cumberland River. On Caney Fork, part of the Tennessee Valley Authority, are Great Falls Dam and Center Hill Dam,...

(Encyclopedia) Spokane, river, c.100 mi (160 km) long, rising in Coeur d'Alene Lake, N Idaho, and flowing through NE Washington to the Columbia River. Dams on the river include Nine Mile, Long Lake, and Little Falls...

(Encyclopedia) oxide, chemical compound containing oxygen and one other chemical element. Oxides are widely and abundantly distributed in nature. Water is the oxide of hydrogen. Silicon dioxide is the major componen...

(Encyclopedia) quartz, one of the commonest of all rock-forming minerals and one of the most important constituents of the earth's crust. Chemically, it is silicon dioxide, SiO2. It occurs in crystals of the hexagon...

(Encyclopedia) ruthenium ro͞othēˈnēəm [key], metallic chemical element; symbol Ru; at. no. 44; at. wt. 101.07; m.p. about 2,310℃; b.p. about 3,900℃; sp. gr. 12.41 at 20℃; valence commonly +2, +3, +4, +6, ...

(Encyclopedia) Hay, river, c.530 mi (850 km) long, rising in several headstreams in NE British Columbia and NW Alta., Canada, and flowing generally NE through NW Alta., over Alexander Falls, and into Great Slave Lak...

(Encyclopedia) Salinas, river, c.150 mi (240 km) long, rising in the Santa Lucia Mts., S Calif., and flowing (partly underground) past King City, Paso Robles, and Salinas, NW to Monterey Bay. The irrigated valley is...

(Encyclopedia) San Juan Bautista săn wän bətēˈstə [key], mission, W Calif., in the fertile San Juan valley. Largest of the California missions, San Juan Bautista (1797) draws thousands of visitors annually. ...