Editing 2752: Salt Dome

This comic refers to how downwards pressure in one area of the world can cause upwards pressure in another, causing geologic structures, like {{w|salt domes}}, to rise up.

In the comic, [[Beret Guy]] and [[Ponytail]] are sitting at a table and eating dinner alongside [[Cueball]], who is presumably a {{w|geologist}}. When asked to "pass the salt," Cueball, with his extensive knowledge of the Earth's crust and its interactions with the surface, is aware of this pressure phenomenon, and as such is stomping on his chair in order to create downward pressure on the ground beneath. This apparently works exactly as intended, as a salt dome has risen out of the floor and even begun to break through the dinner table. The caption humorously remarks that this is what will happen if you ask any geologist to "pass the salt," which conventionally means to simply hand a salt shaker or dispenser to another diner who cannot reach it. A salt shaker, presumably containing the salt intended to be passed, can be seen on their table. "The general problem" of passing salt and other condiments is discussed in comic [[974: The General Problem]].

Cueball mentions {{w|overburden pressure}}, a geological term referring to the pressure that outer layers of rock exert on inner layers. This is what usually causes the rising of salt domes; however Cueball's stomping on his chair would not produce sufficient overburden pressure to raise a salt dome.{{fact}} Interestingly, this is exactly the kind of [[:Category:Strange powers of Beret Guy|strange powers]] Beret Guy, who is also present at the table, usually displays (see [[1388: Subduction License]]).

The title text mentions the {{w|Strategic Petroleum Reserve (United States)|Strategic Petroleum Reserve}}, a United States government reserve of oil for use in emergencies. [[Randall]] observes the true fact that artificial caves within hollowed-out salt domes create the spaces for storage of this oil; in fact, naturally-occurring petroleum is often found under {{w|salt domes}}. The joke in the title text is Randall's claim that salt domes that are not yet hollow are used to store the US salt reserve. Of course this could be seen as true, but this salt is not put there by humans, but by nature, and is thus not stored there by any government. Further, the use of the term "salt dome" in the title text plays on the ambiguity between geological {{w|Salt dome|salt domes}} and the {{w|monolithic dome}} structures commonly used to store reserves of road salt, which also are commonly referred to as "salt domes".

Ordinary salt is available in abundance throughout the U.S.[https://uwaterloo.ca/earth-sciences-museum/resources/detailed-rocks-and-minerals-articles/salt] so there is no need for a national strategic salt reserve.{{fact}} However, the UK <em>does</em> maintain an Emergency Salt Reserve[https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/strategic-salt-protocol/national-emergency-salt-reserve-salt-protocol-note-for-local-highway-authorities-in-england] as part of a Strategic Salt Protocol[https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/strategic-salt-protocol] to ensure highways can be salted during prolonged wintry weather, just as most communities throughout the world regularly using salt on roads stockpile it for such purposes.