Atlantis
18
Atlantis mythical land, originally mentioned by Plato (429-348 B.C.) and located west of the Atlas Mountains, one of the Pillars of Hercules (the ancient
name of the Strait of Gibraltar). It was an archipelago larger than North
Africa and Asia Minor (present-day Turkey) together, and flooded by the sea,
the present Atlantic Ocean. By some it is considered to have been a real archipelago once and various regions have been proposed as the original Atlantis,
in western Europe (north Sweden, Holland, Heligoland) as well as in the
Mediterranean, in the Sahara and in Nigeria. Recently it was shown that the
present island of Thira in the Aegean Sea was in antiquity a much larger (volcanic) island that may have been Atlantis. The "lost land" of Atlantis for many
centuries has appealed to fantasy, and most probably it was only that.
Atlantis Expeditions (1931-1966) the first deep-water research vessel of Woods
Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), a powered sailing vessel that in
her long life made 299 cruises mainly in the North Atlantic but also beyond.
The directors, H.B. Bigelow and C.o. Iselin, had chosen a sailing ship to
enlarge the range and stability, but also because it was cheaper to operate.
The Atlantis was suited for almost any oceanographic work and most of the
now famous American oceanographers used this ship for their research. To
name a few: A.C. Redfield, D. Bumpus, G. Clarke, F. Fuglister, G. Riley, B.
Heezen. The Atlantis was also used for research related to submarine warfare during the second world war.
atmosphere the atmosphere that surrounds the earth consists of a mixture of
gases of which nitrogen (about 78 % in volume) and oxygen (about 21 %) are
the main constituents. Important for the role of the atmosphere in the physical and biological conditions on earth are the content of carbon dioxide and
water vapor. The atmospheric pressure at sea level may vary because of differences in thickness and temperature of the overlying air mass. The horizontal pressure differences exert forces on the air that give rise to winds; the patterns of the wind and of atmospheric pressure are related in a similar way
as in the geostrophic balance in the sea.
atmospheric pressure -"7atmosphere.
atoll -"7reef.
atomic absorption spectrophotometry (AAS) technique for the determination of
metals. The principle is based on the fact that an atom in its "ground state"
is capable of absorbing energy. If energy of the right magnitude (specific
wavelength) is applied to an atom, the amount of absorbed energy gives an
estimate of the amount of the element present. The atom cloud required for
atomic absorption measurements can be produced by supplying enough
thermal energy to the sample to produce free atoms. This can be done by
18
Atlantis mythical land, originally mentioned by Plato (429-348 B.C.) and located west of the Atlas Mountains, one of the Pillars of Hercules (the ancient
name of the Strait of Gibraltar). It was an archipelago larger than North
Africa and Asia Minor (present-day Turkey) together, and flooded by the sea,
the present Atlantic Ocean. By some it is considered to have been a real archipelago once and various regions have been proposed as the original Atlantis,
in western Europe (north Sweden, Holland, Heligoland) as well as in the
Mediterranean, in the Sahara and in Nigeria. Recently it was shown that the
present island of Thira in the Aegean Sea was in antiquity a much larger (volcanic) island that may have been Atlantis. The "lost land" of Atlantis for many
centuries has appealed to fantasy, and most probably it was only that.
Atlantis Expeditions (1931-1966) the first deep-water research vessel of Woods
Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), a powered sailing vessel that in
her long life made 299 cruises mainly in the North Atlantic but also beyond.
The directors, H.B. Bigelow and C.o. Iselin, had chosen a sailing ship to
enlarge the range and stability, but also because it was cheaper to operate.
The Atlantis was suited for almost any oceanographic work and most of the
now famous American oceanographers used this ship for their research. To
name a few: A.C. Redfield, D. Bumpus, G. Clarke, F. Fuglister, G. Riley, B.
Heezen. The Atlantis was also used for research related to submarine warfare during the second world war.
atmosphere the atmosphere that surrounds the earth consists of a mixture of
gases of which nitrogen (about 78 % in volume) and oxygen (about 21 %) are
the main constituents. Important for the role of the atmosphere in the physical and biological conditions on earth are the content of carbon dioxide and
water vapor. The atmospheric pressure at sea level may vary because of differences in thickness and temperature of the overlying air mass. The horizontal pressure differences exert forces on the air that give rise to winds; the patterns of the wind and of atmospheric pressure are related in a similar way
as in the geostrophic balance in the sea.
atmospheric pressure -"7atmosphere.
atoll -"7reef.
atomic absorption spectrophotometry (AAS) technique for the determination of
metals. The principle is based on the fact that an atom in its "ground state"
is capable of absorbing energy. If energy of the right magnitude (specific
wavelength) is applied to an atom, the amount of absorbed energy gives an
estimate of the amount of the element present. The atom cloud required for
atomic absorption measurements can be produced by supplying enough
thermal energy to the sample to produce free atoms. This can be done by