3021: Seismologists

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Seismologists

Title text: And even when they're not distracted, they usually get kicked out for illegal under-the-net 'subduction spikes'.

Explanation

In seismology, a "beachball" diagram is a graphic that is used to show the type of slip that occurs in an earthquake. There are three types of slips: strike-slip, normal, and thrust, each with a corresponding beachball diagram. Ponytail is playing beach ball volleyball (a form of volleyball played with a beach ball, though normally played on an indoor court, as opposed to what is presumably sand in the comic). She is distracted by the resemblance of the rotating two-shaded beach ball to a strike-slip beachball diagram (something she uses in her field of study), and fails to play the ball, causing her to be hit on the head.

The comic could be seen as playing on the dual meaning of the word "fault". In geology, it refers to a fracture or zone of fractures between two blocks of rock, which can allow them to move past each other. In volleyball, a "fault" refers to a play violation that causes a team to lose a point. Had her opponent committed a fault within the rules of the game, the point would be finished, and there would be no reason for Ponytail to attempt to play the ball.

The subduction referred to in the title text occurs when one tectonic plate slides underneath another. In volleyball, a spike is a type of shot, typically the third of a team's three allowed touches, hit hard over the net from high up down toward the floor on the opponent's side. A "subduction spike" would be a spike hit under the net, and would indeed not be legal and would result in a point for the opponent. Beret Guy once obtained a Subduction License. Subduction was also mentioned in 1829: Geochronology.

Transcript

[Megan, Ponytail and Hairy are playing beach volleyball using a beach ball rather than a volleyball. Megan has her arms outreached; she has just hit the ball across the net towards Ponytail. The beach ball, shown with black and white pattern, is drawn three times to indicate its path, each rotated differently. Four dashed lines are drawn to indicate the movement: From Megan going above the net, then heading towards Ponytail, then one line down to her head (without showing the ball as it hits), and finally after bouncing off Ponytail’s head where the ball bounces towards the bottom of the net. When the ball hits Ponytail it makes a sound, which is written inside a wavy frame above her head. Hairy is running towards Ponytail from behind her with his arm outstretched. Wavy lines are shown on the ground to indicate the sandy surface they are playing on.]

Ponytail: Ooh, a strike-slip fault!

Ball hitting her head: Bonk!

Ponytail: Ow!

[Caption below the panel:]

Why seismologists are bad at beach ball volleyball

Trivia

• Although probably unrelated, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit Northern California, USA at 10:44 AM PST the previous day, causing tsunami warnings (which were later cancelled) and a state of emergency to be called.

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Discussion

Possibly just a coincidence, but an earthquake struck off the coast of California yesterday.[1] If anyone seismologists were playing beach volleyball in the vicinity at the time.... 172.69.67.11 19:57, 6 December 2024 (UTC)

yo, Tori, you're from California. any seismologist friends that were playing volleyball? Caliban (talk) 20:41, 6 December 2024 (UTC)

haha, no. i do know some friends how play volleyball, but they aren’t interested in seismology (i think that one of them wants to become a prosecutor) [edit: i don’t think that the earthquake yesterday would’ve been inspired this comic strip-it hit during my 3rd period (about 10:45 ish) and I don’t think that Randall would’ve churned out a comic that fast] 42.book.addict^{Talk to me!} 20:54, 6 December 2024 (UTC)

Ooh. Maybe I'll finally learn some stuff about the moment tensor beachball diagrams! Fortran (talk) 20:32, 6 December 2024 (UTC)

I think there's also a joke in there about faulting in volleyball? BunsenH (talk) 22:53, 6 December 2024 (UTC)

Question is, what do the beachballs depicted in the comic indicate in beachball diagram format? Is it accurate to the joke? 172.69.7.193 23:39, 7 December 2024 (UTC)

Usually played indoors? I'm pretty sure beach balls are supposed to be used at the beach. 172.69.67.137 16:42, 11 December 2024 (UTC)