ore than 5,500 adults and children from all over the metropolitan area came to Columbia's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory campus in Palisades, N.Y., last Saturday to examine deep sea sediment cores, learn about the demise of the dinosaurs and hear about the rise and fall of sea level, among other topics. Also included was a virtual tour of Biosphere 2, the Columbia-run facility in Arizona. At left, visitors examine tree rings.