Editing 3078: Anchor Bolts

{{comic
| number    = 3078
| date      = April 18, 2025
| title     = Anchor Screws
| image     = anchor_screws_2x.png
| imagesize = 381x326px
| noexpand  = true
| titletext = The biggest expense was installing the mantle ducts to keep the carbonate-silicate cycle operating.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an AUTOMATIC SUBLIMATOR. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

The comic displays a subduction zone. Tectonic plates are plates that divide the Earth's crust. They slowly move across the Earth's surface at the rate of a few centimeters per year, although the rate is nonuniform across plates. When they collide, the denser plate gets dragged under the less dense plate, in a process called subduction. Earthquakes are common at subduction zones, and subduction can also trigger volcanic activity. Earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are typically bad for humanity and thus ways to prevent them happening would reduce economic risks in those areas. An "anti-subduction anchor screw" would effectively stop the process of subduction and the movement of plate tectonics as a whole.

A round head screw is screwed in through both the oceanic lithosphere and the continental crust from the bottom up, with a plain washer on either side, and a wing nut tightened at the surface. Washers are present to prevent the screw and the wing nut from sinking into the crust. There are several concerns not addressed in the comic with such a design. The implication that the screw is being screwed in from the mantle side would imply that a very large screw head was operated from inside the mantle. As of the time of posting of the comic, humans have not drilled a hole through a continental crust, still less deployed large vehicles in the mantle. In addition, the presence of wing nuts, fasteners that are designed to be able to be screwed in by hand, implies work done by a larger being that has appendages able to use the wing nut. The screw itself would be a technological challenge, as well. The temperature of Earth's mantle is around 1000&deg;C, temperatures at which most commercial stainless steel used to manufacture screws would experience noticeable strength losses. As such, materials capable of withstanding higher temperatures would need to be utilized. The screw itself would need to have a length of around 50 km as well. In addition, as subduction zones move parallel to each other, the construction would have to withstand high shear forces, something that the screw is rather unsuited to compared to other tools such as rivets. In addition, ways to alleviate stress must be sought out as if the screw fails, it could produce a highly amplified earthquake. 

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Subduction]]