3112: Geology Murder

2025-07-07T22:06:36Z

2601:CD:CD00:B7A6:1921:6BB1:63C1:9E4A:

{{comic
| number = 3112
| date = July 7, 2025
| title = Geology Murder
| image = geology_murder_2x.png
| imagesize = 327x359px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = After determining that his body was full of pipes carrying iron-rich fluid, our current theory is that the dagger-shaped object precipitated within the wound.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by an IRON-RICH BOT. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
Someone has been stabbed dead and two geologists are looking at the corpse. Take note of the spelling in the dialog, it's "uncomforMably" not "uncomforTably". An "uncomformity" in geology is a gap of missing strata between an upper and lower layer. Implying that there is missing information about how the man came to be lying on the desk.

As they apparently have no forensic experience or ability, they apply their geological knowledge. The "iron-rich intrusion in his back" refers to the dagger that killed him; an {{w|intrusion}} is rock formed when magma slowly cools below ground, and the geologists are speculating that the dagger formed after steel flowed into place in and on the body (and somehow became dagger-shaped). The dagger is "iron-rich" because it's made of steel, which is composed largely of iron. "{{w|Clastic rock|Clastic}}", mentioned by one geologist, refers to rock made up of broken pieces of older rocks. In this case she's speculating that a {{w|rift}} - a gap - opened up in the person's back and the dagger fell in. Having long linear gaps appear is something that happens to the Earth's crust, and can lead to clastic rock when other rock is swept into the gap. However, this doesn't normally happen to people's backs.{{cn}}

The "pipes carrying iron-rich fluid" are the person's blood vessels, as blood has a large amount of the iron-rich molecule {{w|hemoglobin}} to help it transport oxygen. The geologists speculate that the iron {{w|Precipitation (chemistry)|precipitated}} - sedimented out - out of the blood to form the dagger, which is of course ridiculous.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

[There's a lab bench with a dead Cueball lying on it, with a dagger sticking out of his back. Another Cueball is standing to the left of the table, Ponytail is standing to the right. They're each wearing lab coats and looking at the dead body.]

Cueball: We found him lying uncofmormably on the lab bench. I wonder if the iron-rich intrusion in his back is related.

Ponytail: It could be clastic. Maybe a rift opened in his body, and the intrusive material later fell into the hole.

[Caption below the comic:]

The Geology Department investigates their first murder.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

3112: Geology Murder

2025-07-07T22:05:25Z

2601:CD:CD00:B7A6:1921:6BB1:63C1:9E4A: fixed typo in the transcript

{{comic
| number = 3112
| date = July 7, 2025
| title = Geology Murder
| image = geology_murder_2x.png
| imagesize = 327x359px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = After determining that his body was full of pipes carrying iron-rich fluid, our current theory is that the dagger-shaped object precipitated within the wound.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by an IRON-RICH BOT. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
Someone has been stabbed dead and two geologists are looking at the corpse. Take note of the spelling in the dialog, it's "uncomforMably" not "uncomforTably". An "uncomformity" in geology is geologic strata where there is a gap of missing strata between an upper and lower layer. Implying that there is missing information about how the man came to be lying on the desk.

As they apparently have no forensic experience or ability, they apply their geological knowledge. The "iron-rich intrusion in his back" refers to the dagger that killed him; an {{w|intrusion}} is rock formed when magma slowly cools below ground, and the geologists are speculating that the dagger formed after steel flowed into place in and on the body (and somehow became dagger-shaped). The dagger is "iron-rich" because it's made of steel, which is composed largely of iron. "{{w|Clastic rock|Clastic}}", mentioned by one geologist, refers to rock made up of broken pieces of older rocks. In this case she's speculating that a {{w|rift}} - a gap - opened up in the person's back and the dagger fell in. Having long linear gaps appear is something that happens to the Earth's crust, and can lead to clastic rock when other rock is swept into the gap. However, this doesn't normally happen to people's backs.{{cn}}

The "pipes carrying iron-rich fluid" are the person's blood vessels, as blood has a large amount of the iron-rich molecule {{w|hemoglobin}} to help it transport oxygen. The geologists speculate that the iron {{w|Precipitation (chemistry)|precipitated}} - sedimented out - out of the blood to form the dagger, which is of course ridiculous.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

[There's a lab bench with a dead Cueball lying on it, with a dagger sticking out of his back. Another Cueball is standing to the left of the table, Ponytail is standing to the right. They're each wearing lab coats and looking at the dead body.]

Cueball: We found him lying uncofmormably on the lab bench. I wonder if the iron-rich intrusion in his back is related.

Ponytail: It could be clastic. Maybe a rift opened in his body, and the intrusive material later fell into the hole.

[Caption below the comic:]

The Geology Department investigates their first murder.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

3112: Geology Murder

3112: Geology Murder