Abraxas is a word of mystic meaning in the system of the Gnostic Basilides, being there applied to the "Great Archon", the princeps of the 365 spheres. The word is found in Gnostic texts such as the Holy Book of the Great Invisible Spirit, and also appears in the Greek Magical Papyri. It was engraved on certain antique gemstones, called on that account Abraxas stones, which were used as amulets or charms. As the initial spelling on stones was "Abrasax" (Αβρασαξ), the spelling of "Abraxas" seen today probably originates in the confusion made between the Greek letters sigma (Σ) and xi (Ξ) in the Latin transliteration.
Lake Vostok is the largest of Antarctica's almost 400 known subglacial lakes. Lake Vostok is located at the southern Pole of Cold, beneath Russia's Vostok Station under the surface of the central East Antarctic Ice Sheet, which is at 3,488 m (11,444 ft) above mean sea level. The surface of this fresh water lake is approximately 4,000 m (13,100 ft) under the surface of the ice, which places it at approximately 500 m (1,600 ft) below sea level.
The McMurdo Dry Valleys are a row of largely snow-free valleys in Antarctica, located within Victoria Land west of McMurdo Sound. The Dry Valleys experience extremely low humidity and surrounding mountains prevent the flow of ice from nearby glaciers. The rocks here are granites and gneisses, and glacial tills dot this bedrock landscape, with loose gravel covering the ground. It is one of the driest places on Earth and has not seen rain for nearly 2 million years.
Alexander Island, which is also known as Alexander I Island, Alexander I Land, Alexander Land, Alexander I Archipelago, and Zemlja Alexandra I, is the largest island of Antarctica. It lies in the Bellingshausen Sea west of Palmer Land, Antarctic Peninsula from which it is separated by Marguerite Bay and George VI Sound. George VI Ice Shelf entirely fills George VI Sound and connects Alexander Island to Palmer Land. The island partly surrounds Wilkins Sound, which lies to its west. Alexander Island is about 390 kilometres (240 mi) long in a north–south direction, 80 kilometres (50 mi) wide in the north, and 240 kilometres (150 mi) wide in the south. Alexander Island is the second largest uninhabited island in the world, after Devon Island.
The Recovery Glacier is a glacier flowing west along the southern side of the Shackleton Range in Antarctica. First seen from the air and examined from the ground by the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition in 1957, it was so named because of the recovery of the expedition's vehicles which repeatedly broke into bridged crevasses on this glacier during the early stages of the crossing of Antarctica. It is at least 100 km (60 mi) long and 64 km (40 mi) wide at its mouth.
Canada Glacier is a small glacier flowing south-east into the northern side of Taylor Valley in Victoria Land, Antarctica. It is in the Ross Dependency. Its melting season is in the summer. Canada's landmass and climate supports approximately 20% of the Earth's glacier ice volume excluding the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets. Outside of the ice sheets of Antarctica and Greenland, Canada has more glacier coverage in the form of mountain glaciers, icefields and ice caps than any other nation.
Lake Fryxell is a frozen lake 4.5 kilometres (2.8 mi) long, between Canada Glacier and Commonwealth Glaciers at the lower end of Taylor Valley in Victoria Land, Antarctica. It was mapped in the early 1900s and named during Operation Deep Freeze in the 1950s. There are several forms of algae living in the waters and a weather station located at the lake.
The Vestfold Hills are rounded, rocky, coastal hills, 411 square kilometres (159 sq mi) in extent, on the north side of Sorsdal Glacier on the Ingrid Christensen Coast of Princess Elizabeth Land, Antarctica. The hills are subdivided by three west-trending peninsulas bounded by narrow fjords. Most of the hills range between 30 and 90 metres in height, with the highest summit reaching nearly 160 metres (520 ft).
José Octavio "Chepito" Areas Dávila is a Nicaraguan percussionist best known for having played timbales and Conga drums in the Latin rock group Santana in 1969–1977 and 1987–1989. In 1998, he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame for his work in Santana. In 1997, he performed on Abraxas Pool with other members of the early 1970s iteration of Santana, including Gregg Rolie, Neal Schon, Michael Carabello and Michael Shrieve. Previously, he released an eponymous solo album on Columbia/CBS Records in 1974. La Gigantona, a 1976 collaboration with Nicaraguan singer-songwriter and childhood friend Alfonso Noel Lovo, was reissued by Numero Group in 2012. He was featured along with Richard Bean in 2003 CD The Sounds of Santana by Mike Roman & The Tellstars, and he played alongside Michael Shrieve in the 2007 CD Cha Cha Time! by Mike Roman & The Tellstars.
Santana's Greatest Hits is a 1974 compilation album by Santana. It offers highlights from the group's first three albums. It is the band's best-selling compilation album, selling over 7 million copies in the U.S. alone while selling more than 8 million records worldwide.
Cape Evans is a rocky cape on the west side of Ross Island, Antarctica, forming the north side of the entrance to Erebus Bay.
Ablation Lake is a proglacial tidal lake in Ablation Valley, Alexander Island, Antarctica, with stratified saline and fresh water and depths exceeding 117 m (384 ft). The feature is dammed in the upper portion by ice that pushes into the lake from the adjacent George VI Ice Shelf. It is named after Ablation Valley following British Antarctic Survey (BAS) limnological research from 1973. The site lies within Antarctic Specially Protected Area (ASPA) No.147.
The Schirmacher Oasis is a 25 km long and up to 3 km wide ice-free plateau with more than 100 freshwater lakes. It is situated in the Schirmacher Hills on the Princess Astrid Coast in Queen Maud Land in East Antarctica, and is on average 100 metres above sea level. With an area of 34 km², the Schirmacher Oasis ranks among the smallest Antarctic oases and is a typical polar desert.
Abraxas grossulariata is a moth of the family Geometridae, native to the Palearctic realm and North America. Its distinctive speckled colouration has given it a common name of magpie moth. The caterpillar is similarly coloured to the adult, and may be found feeding on the leaves of shrubs such as gooseberry and blackcurrant. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae.
Abraxas sylvata, the clouded magpie, is a Palearctic moth of the family Geometridae that was named by Giovanni Antonio Scopoli in 1763.
Antarctica is Earth's southernmost continent. It contains the geographic South Pole and is situated in the Antarctic region of the Southern Hemisphere, almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle, and is surrounded by the Southern Ocean. At 14,200,000 square kilometres, it is the fifth-largest continent and nearly twice the size of Australia. It is by far the least populated continent, with around 5,000 people in the summer and around 1,000 in the winter. About 98% of Antarctica is covered by ice that averages 1.9 km in thickness, which extends to all but the McMurdo Dry Valleys and the northernmost reaches of the Antarctic Peninsula.
Byers Peninsula is a mainly ice-free peninsula forming the west end of Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands of Antarctica. It occupies 60 km2 (23 sq mi), borders Ivanov Beach to the northeast and is separated from Rotch Dome on the east by the ridge of Urvich Wall. The peninsula features more than 60 meltwater streams and as many lakes, notably Midge Lake, Limnopolar Lake and Basalt Lake. Byers Peninsula has a regime of special environmental protection under the Antarctic Treaty System and requires a permit to enter.
Coast Lake is a small lake at Cape Royds, Ross Island in the Antarctic region, lying close to the coastline, about 0.75 nautical miles (1.4 km) north of Flagstaff Point. It was named by the British Antarctic Expedition, 1907–09, because of its position. The lake is being considered as a staging area for an expedition by flat earthers who are attempting to prove Antarctica is an ice wall which is the edge of a flat earth.
Lake CECs is a subglacial lake in Antarctica at approximately latitude 80°S. It has an estimated area of 18 km2. The territory where the lake is located, some 160 km from Union Glacier, is claimed only by Chile.
