2840: Earth Layers

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Earth Layers

Title text: The Earth's magnetic field is primarily generated by currents in the liquid outer core, though some geophysicists argue that an unexplained mismatch with models suggests that the Kinder toy contains a magnet.

Explanation

This explanation may be incomplete or incorrect: Created by a KINDER SURPRISE - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon. If you can address this issue, please edit the page! Thanks.

This comic reimagines the internal structure of the earth, mixing the real geological layers of the planet with fictional ones. Some of the fictional layers are appropriated from the layers of other objects that have cross-sectional diagrams, such as the layers of a piece of fruit, an eyeball, or a building.

Layer	Explanation
Lithosphere/Crust (50/50 Blend)	The lithosphere and crust are two different parts of the surface of the Earth.
Upper mantle	A correct layer of the earth's structure.
Deep mantle	A pseudo-correct layer of the earth's structure. There is a layer called the lower mantle, which could be what Randall refers to.
Filler
Vitreous humor	Vitreous humor (vitreous body) is the transparent gel inside the eye, located between the lens and the retina.
Mechanical/HVAC layer	HVAC is an abbreviation for heating, ventilation, and air conditioning - the system used to heat or cool a building.
Guacamole	Guacamole is a dip or sauce made from avocados. Originating in the Mayan Empire, It often includes onions, tomatoes, and spices. Notably, guacamole is a major component of seven layer dip, and are shown here to be the seventh layer (from the surface).
Cytoplasm	Cytoplasm is the "flesh" of a eukaryotic cell; everything surrounding the nucleus.
Cork	Due to the proximity of the cork layer and the insulation layer, this may possibly be referencing cork-lined walls, which while not the most popular choice for wall lining, does have a considerable history. Another potential reference could be the fact that baseballs (another spherical shape) have a layer of cork in them (though it is usually in the center).
Insulation	Probably a reference to the building insulation installed in the walls and ceilings of buildings.
Seeds	Part of a fruit.
Pith	Part of a tree trunk.
Nougat	Nougat is a family of confections made with sugar or honey, roasted nuts, whipped egg whites, and sometimes chopped candied fruit.
Outer core	A correct layer of the earth's structure.
Inner core	A correct layer of the earth's structure.
Secret core	The "next layer" that is secret and only certain people, like Randall, know about it.
Kinder toy capsule	A Kinder toy is a reference to two chocolate egg-shaped confections by the Kinder brand, the Kinder Joy and Kinder Surprise. Both contain small toys within it, though the Kinder Surprise was banned in the US because it exceeds the limit of non-food that can be inside a food item (although it is widely believed that it's because it can be a choking hazard, despite the fact that you'd have to be swallowing a chicken egg-sized confectionery in a single mouthful for that to happen; the toys, on the other hand, may contain brightly coloured small pieces that can pose a choking hazard). Randall's punch line of the comic is that there is a hidden toy at the center of the Earth.

Transcript

This transcript is incomplete. Please help editing it! Thanks.

The layers of the Earth

Lithosphere/crust (50/50 blend)

Upper mantle

Deep mantle

Filler

Vitreous humor

Mechanical/HVAC layer

Guacamole

Cytoplasm

Cork

Insulation

Seeds

Pith

Nougat

Outer core

Inner core

Secret core

Kinder toy capsule

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Discussion

Why are the seeds outside of the pith? Is there a fruit that is organized this way? SDSpivey (talk) 18:01, 11 October 2023 (UTC)

If there's one that's this way that contains pith, i can't find it, but raspberries, cashew apples, and blackberries all have their seeds on the outside SomeoneIGuess (talk) 20:09, 11 October 2023 (UTC)

The pith is the innermost part of a tree trunk. The part of a fruit is the pit, which is basically the same thing as a seed.--172.64.236.13 20:19, 11 October 2023 (UTC)

Ummm...the white, fibrous stuff within fruits that wraps around the seeds (like in oranges, for example) is called "pith", whether trees contain something by that name or not.Yorkshire Pudding (talk) 21:43, 11 October 2023 (UTC)

Strawberries are an (albeit rare) example of a fruit with the seeds on the outside of the pith (and skin, for that matter) 162.158.159.116 15:52, 12 October 2023 (UTC)

Actually, the white specks on strawberries that we commonly call seeds are achenes, which are actually individual, smaller fruits. It's the seeds within these achenes that are the actual strawberry seeds. SomeoneIGuess (talk) 20:43, 12 October 2023 (UTC)

Clear tootsie roll tootsie pop joke miss (awwaiid) 172.70.39.49 01:40, 12 October 2023 (UTC)

Something that seemed to be excessive to edit into the Explanation, but noting here in passing, the additional issue of magnets (in a Kinder context) is the problems of ingesting them. In addition to other issues, they can attract each other/separate bits of metal across folds of the digestive system and cause problems beyond merely their passage through the system (which they might not now be able to do). I don't even know if Kinder has ever included magnets, but I think they'd be extremely limited even outwith the US. (Though, as counter-example, there are Cow Magnets, designed for ingestion but not further digestion. And not for humans, nor the size of either a standard Kinder-yoke or a planetary one.) 172.71.242.69 08:50, 12 October 2023 (UTC)

When I saw guacamole in the comic, I assumed it was a reference to Apache Guacamole, as might be seen in a diagram of the different layers involved accessing some complicated computer system. Sandor (talk) 17:49, 12 October 2023 (UTC)

Some parts of the explanation, particularly the last paragraph, seem to assume that the diagram is supposed to be to scale. I don't think it is, since all the layers except the kinder toy capsule at the center are about the same size. Barmar (talk) 16:32, 13 October 2023 (UTC)

I've gone in and altered the last paragraph (it looks like the author of that wasn't too concerned about the near-similar thicknesses of the sliced-through strata, but I presume that it was a basic measurement and calculation of the relative radii of innermost and outermost spheres that came to the 900km conclusion). A very quick glance didn't suggest anything about the similar thicknesses in the list (may have missed it, it was a very very quick read-through!), but note that there is obvious variation, belying it being a "just line 'em up regularly" diagram but maybe just happens to be semi-accurately representing a semi-similar set of thicknesses. Because sometimes the things just turn out to be semi-regular like that, maybe? (Ok, so it's in a fiction/imagination, already, but if we're not allowed to be meta in xkcd then where else can one?) 141.101.99.164 20:36, 13 October 2023 (UTC)

> In the context of "inner core, outer core, secret core" may also be a riff on Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah, a la 2583: Chorded Keyboard. < ...How does this relate to the inner and outer core? Surely this should just say '"Secret core" may also be a riff on Leonard Cohen's hallelujah.'?172.70.42.59 16:41, 14 October 2023 (UTC)

I believe the "Mechanical/HVAC layer“ refers to the virtual layer in a CAD program or a layer shown in a set of blueprints for a building. Often different utilities are seperated out into separate layers or drawings to avoid confusion of different piping or electrical utilities such as water, gas, sewage, electrical, hvac, etc. See https://blog.draftsperson.net/iso-13567-cad-layer-standard/ for reference. 108.162.245.29 16:49, 1 May 2024 (UTC)

Layer 4 (FILLER) is actually an inside-joke for COBOL programmers. 172.70.110.5 08:18, 5 July 2024 (UTC)