Difference between revisions of "2058: Rock Wall"

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:[Ponytail is talking to Megan]
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:Ponytail: I live next to a wall of rock 20 miles thick.  There's no way around or over it. I'm trapped on this side forever.
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:Ponytail: I study the stuff on the other side.
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:Caption: Mantle geology seems like the most frustrating field.

Revision as of 14:19, 12 October 2018

Rock Wall
I don't trust mantle/core geologists because I suspect that, if they ever get a chance to peel away the Earth's crust, they'll do it in a heartbeat.
Title text: I don't trust mantle/core geologists because I suspect that, if they ever get a chance to peel away the Earth's crust, they'll do it in a heartbeat.

Explanation

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If you can address this issue, please edit the page! Thanks.
Mantle geologists study that part of the planet that's below the top "crust" of the planet. The top layer of the planet, which is several dozen miles thick, is the only layer we've been able to explore, by digging tunnels, spelunking, etc. The only way to study the mantle and other inner layers of the earth are through non-visual, non-tactile, indirect methods, and by analyzing old samples of the mantle that have made their way to the surface.

In this comic, Ponytail, talking to Megan, is describing her job as a mantle geologist as one of living on one side of a thick wall that is impossible to get through or around, but she has to study what is on the other side of the wall. In this case the wall is horizontal rather than vertical, the wall being the earth's crust.

Transcript

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Discussion

There doesn't seem to be a link from the previous (#2057/Internal Monologues) comic to this one yet. I tried in another browser just in case my cache was messing up. -boB (talk) 14:21, 12 October 2018 (UTC)

Thanks for your note. It's maybe the proxy in the background so I will wait a little bit for further actions. Nonetheless this shouldn't happen and I will figure out the reason. --Dgbrt (talk) 14:58, 12 October 2018 (UTC)
The link is now shown and this means the problem is definitely caused by the proxy cache. If this happens again on Monday the BOT will handle this in the future. --Dgbrt (talk) 15:54, 12 October 2018 (UTC)
The link showed up when I purged it and completely forgot to comment here (sorry). So that might give a good hint for why it was happening. --NeatNit (talk) 18:15, 12 October 2018 (UTC)
Thanks, that's exactly what the BOT will do at the than former latest comic if really needed. This expires all caches, hopefully. But the BOT action is only a workaround I don't like. It did work in the past when the site template provided a new link and it should do so now without a BOT. --Dgbrt (talk) 18:41, 12 October 2018 (UTC)

I am not a mantle geologist, but I've always thought that if the core of Mars has really cooled & solidified, blasting the whole surface off could let us get at that sweet nickel-iron core. I mean it's a giant wad of semi-refined metals with some rock caked on top of it, right? If there's no magma to deal with, we could actually get at the good stuff much more easily. Mine Mars' core! ProphetZarquon (talk) 17:20, 12 October 2018 (UTC)

That would make terraforming Mars lot harder. -- Hkmaly (talk) 22:11, 12 October 2018 (UTC)
It's already sitting out there in the asteroid belt... why deal with the Mars gravity well? Just mine the space rocks, so much easier. 108.162.249.166 02:49, 17 October 2018 (UTC)

Wouldn't the part of astronomy which studies black holes be even more frustrating? Also, peeling away the event horizon, even locally, might destroy whole universe ... -- Hkmaly (talk) 22:11, 12 October 2018 (UTC)

I think, perhaps, that theology might top even that. Perhaps a really enterprising (hah!) astronomer could find a way to the other side of the event horizon (though transmitting her findings back might be hard) and perhaps someday the Kola Superdeep Borehole project will be, ah, re-opened. But getting anything truly verifiable back from beyond the dead is probably ... a bit out of reach. 162.158.186.12 02:03, 14 October 2018 (UTC)
Good point, theology is even more hard to reach AND likely more dangerous when peeling away ... (note: for why peeling away the event horizon from singularity might be possible, just not good idea, see Naked singularity) -- Hkmaly (talk) 00:02, 16 October 2018 (UTC)

Something Weird Would Happen - may refer to this expedition to find out what weird thing happens at mantle exposure. https://www.livescience.com/1317-mission-study-earth-gaping-open-wound.html -- FT FreeTim (talk) 09:01, 14 October 2018 (UTC)

Why isn't there a geology category? I mean... we have so many useless categories with only 2 or 3 entries, and from the top of my head there are at least 5 geology comics... (this one, the one where cueball sits on his chair and looks down to the core and gets scared, the one with the geology sex puns, the one with the real time plate tectonics game, the one where a trophy hunter takes a piece of a rock and hangs it on the wall labeled "earth")... and with some actual searching I guess one could find more...

Third Doctor

Anybody remember the Dr. who episode where the third doctor had to deal with people trying to break through the crust on an alternate Earth? -- Keybounce (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

Oh, THERE Liu Cixin stole the basic idea for his short "Mountain" :-) 141.101.77.212 20:25, 16 October 2018 (UTC)

I distinctly remember a previous comic along the same lines (something about studying the thing we're on), but don't have the time to track it down. 172.68.10.154 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)


[Ponytail is talking to Megan]
Ponytail: I live next to a wall of rock 20 miles thick. There's no way around or over it. I'm trapped on this side forever.
Ponytail: I study the stuff on the other side.
Caption: Mantle geology seems like the most frustrating field.