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Pacific Margin

(Encyclopedia)Pacific Margin, western section of the great North American Cordillera, W United States and W Canada, stretching from SW Alaska to S Calif. It is composed of a central lowland region (Central Valley, ...

mountain

(Encyclopedia)mountain, high land mass projecting conspicuously above its surroundings and usually of limited width at its summit. Although isolated mountains are not unusual, mountains commonly form ranges, compri...

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 (to replace f...

Cascade Range

(Encyclopedia)Cascade Range, mountain chain, c.700 mi (1,130 km) long, extending S from British Columbia to N Calif., where it becomes the Sierra Nevada; it parallels the Coast Ranges, 100–150 mi (161–241 km) i...

Whitney, Mount

(Encyclopedia)Whitney, Mount, peak, 14,494 ft (4,418 m) high, E Calif., in the Sierra Nevada at the eastern border of Sequoia National Park; the highest peak in the contiguous 48 states (Denali [Mt. McKinley], Alas...

Guadalupe, Sierra de

(Encyclopedia)Guadalupe, Sierra de syārˈrä ᵺā gwäᵺälo͞oˈpā [key], mountain range, W Spain, in Extremadura, between the Tagus and Guadiana rivers. The highest elevation is 4,734 ft (1,443 m). ...

Gata, Sierra de

(Encyclopedia)Gata, Sierra de syārˈrä ᵺā gäˈtä [key], mountain range, W Spain. Between the valleys of the Douro and Tagus rivers, it separates León from Extremadura. Its highest point is the Jálama peak ...

Sierra Maestra

(Encyclopedia)Sierra Maestra syāˈrä mäāˈsträ [key], rugged mountain range, SE Cuba, rising abruptly from the coast. Consisting of connecting ranges with local names, the Sierra Maestra is the highest system ...

Sierra Morena

(Encyclopedia)Sierra Morena syāˈrä mōrāˈnä [key], mountain range, SW Spain, extending c.375 mi (600 km) eastward along the southern edge of the Meseta (central plateau) from the Portuguese border to the Sier...

state flowers

(Encyclopedia)state flowers. Each state of the United States has designated, usually by legislative action, one flower as its floral emblem; the rose has been designated by Congress as the national flower of the Un...
 

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