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Grand Canyon

(Encyclopedia)Grand Canyon, great gorge of the Colorado River, one of the natural wonders of the world; c.1 mi (1.6 km) deep, from 4 to 18 mi (6.4–29 km) wide, and 217 mi (349 km) long, NW Ariz. The canyon shows ...

otter

(Encyclopedia)otter, name for a number of aquatic, carnivorous mammals of the weasel family, found on all continents except Australia. The common river otters of Eurasia and the Americas are species of the genus Lu...

Mojave Desert

(Encyclopedia)Mojave or Mohave Desert, c.15,000 sq mi (38,850 sq km), region of low, barren mountains and flat valleys, 2,000 to 5,000 ft (610–1,524 m) high, S Calif.; part of the Great Basin of the United States...

Wolfe, Thomas Clayton

(Encyclopedia)Wolfe, Thomas Clayton, 1900–1938, American novelist, b. Asheville, N.C., grad. Univ. of North Carolina, 1920, M.A. Harvard, 1922. An important 20th-century American novelist, Wolfe wrote four mammot...

moon

(Encyclopedia) CE5 The moon: Near side CE5 The moon: Far side moon, natural satellite of a planet (see satellite, natural) or dwarf planet, in particular, the single natural satellite of the earth. It is no...

Smoky

(Encyclopedia)Smoky, river, c.250 mi (400 km) long, rising in Jasper National Park, W Alta., Canada, and flowing generally NE to the Peace River. It receives the Wapiti and Little Smoky rivers. It was explored (179...

beaver

(Encyclopedia)beaver, either of two large aquatic rodents, Castor fiber and Castor canadensis, known for their engineering feats. They were once widespread in N and central Eurasia except E Siberia, and in North Am...

buttercup

(Encyclopedia) CE5 Common buttercup, Ranunculus acris buttercup or crowfoot, common name for the Ranunculaceae, a family of chiefly annual or perennial herbs of cool regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Thought to...

Mercury, in astronomy

(Encyclopedia)Mercury, in astronomy, nearest planet to the sun, at a mean distance of 36 million mi (58 million km); its period of revolution is 88 days. Mercury passes through phases similar to those of the moon a...

Ontario, province, Canada

(Encyclopedia) CE5 Ontario ŏntârˈēō [key], province (2001 pop. 11,410,046), 412,582 sq mi (1,068,587 sq km), E central Canada. Before the arrival of Europeans the Ontario region was inhabited by several Al...
 

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