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| Landscape Features |
 Title text: 'Well, there's speculation that it's due to a mantle hotspot.' --a geologist who's trying to cover up the fact that they didn't hear your question |
Explanation
This comic is a map of the United States, explaining some of the most significant geologic/human activity in each region. It claims that, in each area, there is one major mechanism (plate tectonics, erosion, volcanism, etc.) which is responsible for the majority of interesting formations and features.
The title text plays off the fact that a large part of geology concerned with activity in the mantle, so explaining that there is speculation that something is "due to a mantle hotspot" is not giving much information. Saying this would let a distracted geologist buy for time while responding to a missed question. The area of the map in upstate New York marked with question marks is the Adirondack Mountains, which are theorized to have been caused by uplift from such a mantle hotspot.
| Location | Description | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| Adirondack Mountains | ??? | |
| Most of northern conterminous U.S. | Glaciers | During the Last Glacial Period, this area was covered by an ice sheet that left its marks on the landscape, in the form of moraines, eskers, glacial erratics, etc. |
| Appalachian Mountains | Continents colliding | |
| Near Mississippi & Ohio Rivers | Rivers | |
| Southeastern U.S. | Farming | |
| Southern Florida | Ongoing disputes between limestone and water | |
| Southern Missouri/Northern Arkansas | Geology | |
| Central column of U.S. | Farming | |
| Central Idaho/Yellowstone | A supervolcano | |
| Eastern Washington | A megaflood | |
| West Coast | A plate tectonic speedrun | |
| Desert Southwest | Water and time | |
| Northern Alaska | Geology | |
| Aleutian Islands | Volcanoes | |
| Southeast Alaska | Glaciers | This part of Alaska (including Glacier National Park) and western Canada has many glaciers that are still carving the landscape. |
| Hawaiian island chain | Volcanoes |
Transcript
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