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snowball earth

(Encyclopedia) snowball earth, hypothesized condition in which the earth was covered completely by ice during several periods in the Proterozoic. The hypothesis was originally developed to explain…

Gilbert, Grove Karl

(Encyclopedia) Gilbert, Grove Karl, 1843–1918, American geologist, b. Rochester, N.Y., grad. Univ. of Rochester, 1862. When the U.S. Geological Survey was created in the Dept. of the Interior in 1879…

Penck, Albrecht

(Encyclopedia) Penck, AlbrechtPenck, Albrechtälˈbrĕkht pĕngk [key], 1858–1945, German geographer and geologist. He was professor at the Univ. of Vienna (1885–1906) and at the Univ. of Berlin (1906–26…

glacial periods

(Encyclopedia) glacial periods, times during which large portions of the earth's surface were covered with thick glacial ice sheets. In the Pleistocene epoch, in the Carboniferous and Permian periods…

Queen Charlotte Islands

(Encyclopedia) Queen Charlotte Islands, archipelago of several large and many small islands, off the coast of W British Columbia, Canada. The main islands are Graham and Moresby. Masset on Graham…

Martha's Vineyard

(Encyclopedia) Martha's VineyardMartha's Vineyardvĭnˈyərd [key], island (1990 est. pop. 8,900), c.100 sq mi (260 sq km), SE Mass., separated from the Elizabeth Islands and Cape Cod by Vineyard and…

Chamberlin, Thomas Chrowder

(Encyclopedia) Chamberlin, Thomas Chrowder, 1843–1928, American geologist, b. Mattoon, Ill., grad. Beloit College, 1866. He was professor of geology at Beloit (1873–82), president of the Univ. of…

Nantucket

(Encyclopedia) NantucketNantucketnăntŭkˈĭt [key], island, c.14 mi (23 km) long, from 3 to 6 mi (4.8–9.6 km) wide, SE Mass., lying c.25 mi (40 km) S of Cape Cod, from which it is separated by…

plain

(Encyclopedia) plain, large area of level or nearly level land. Elevated plains are called plateaus, or tablelands, and very low, wet plains are called swamps. Plains have different names in…

Permian period

(Encyclopedia) Permian periodPermian periodpûrˈmēən [key] [from Perm, Russia], sixth and last period of the Paleozoic era (see Geologic Timescale, tablegeologic timescale, table) from 250 to 290…