#3078: Anchor Bolts

XKCD comic, described below.
Transcript

[Panel shows Randall's usual illustration of a subduction zone: a tectonic plate subducting from the left side of the panel with water above it, and a mountain range forming on the right side of the panel on the other tectonic plate. Beneath each tectonic plate is the asthenosphere. The main difference between this image and others like it is that there is a bolt shown attaching the plates together in the subduction zone. The head of the bolt is shown in the asthenosphere below the subducting plate. There are two washers displayed, one between the bolt head and the subducting plate and one above the other above the upper plate on the side of a smaller mountain. A wing nut is positioned above this washer, with part of the bolt sticking out above the nut, higher than the tallest mountains in the panel]

[Caption below the panel:]

Good news: Geophysicists are finally installing Earth's required anti-subduction anchor bolts.

(Sourced from explainxkcd.com)

Title text:The biggest expense was installing the mantle ducts to keep the carbonate-silicate cycle operating.


ExplainOriginal