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==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
+ | {{incomplete|Created by AN OVERBLOWN MOUNTAIN. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}} | ||
This comic marks the 40 year anniversary of the {{w|1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens|May 18, 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens}} that killed 57 people. It was a Monday so a normal release day could be used to mark this event. | This comic marks the 40 year anniversary of the {{w|1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens|May 18, 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens}} that killed 57 people. It was a Monday so a normal release day could be used to mark this event. | ||
− | + | {{w|Mount St. Helens}} is a {{w|volcano}} that famously and explosively erupted in 1980. Thousands of tons of earth were thrown from one face of the mountain and slid into the surrounding countryside. After it was over, the peak of Mount St. Helens was no longer the 5th highest in the {{w|Washington (state)|state of Washington}}, having lost approximately 1,300 feet (400 m) in height (from 9,677 ft (2,950 m) pre-explosion to 8,363 ft (2,549 m) post-explosion). | |
− | Mount | + | Currently, the 5 highest mountain peaks in Washington State are {{w|Mount Rainier}} (at 14,411 ft or 4,392 m), {{w|Mount Adams (Washington)|Mount Adams}}, {{w|Mount Baker}}, {{w|Glacier Peak}}, and {{w|Bonanza Peak (Washington)|Bonanza Peak}}. As shown in the comic, Mount St. Helens was the 5th highest, but now has fallen to #23. Only mountains above 8,000 feet (2,438 m) is included, with the graph stopping at 15,000 feet (4,572 m), 600 feet (182 m) above the highest mountain. |
− | + | Technically, the other mountains may be fluctuating in height as well, due to erosion or the movement of Earth's tectonic plates, but this phenomenon is not visible on the time-scale that Randall has plotted. <!-- Or are they rising on average due to the Cascadia Subduction Zone?--> Precision GPS measurements of various peaks in Washington have only been available since 2010, and it's likely that the primarily volcanic mountain of Washington experience significant but slight variations throughout the year due to snowfall, melt, or the pressure of swelling magma inside volcanic cores. These changes go largely unmeasured, while the mountains continue to appear equally physically unchanging and imposing both in person and from a distance. | |
+ | Source: [https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/how-tall-is-rainier-really/ Seattle Times] | ||
− | + | The title text is a play on the term “peak” meaning both the highest point of a mountain and also the optimal, most famous or most impressive stage of a trend. for instance: "The band Rolling Stones really peaked in the 80s." | |
− | + | This may be the first comic since March, that can in no way be linked to the ongoing {{w|2019–2 coronavirus outbreak|2020 pandemic}} and {{w|COVID-19}}. Most other comics since March has been part of a [[:Category:COVID-19|series of comics]] related to the pandemic, and those few not directly linked to it, could have been inspired by it. | |
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− | The | + | ==Transcript== |
+ | :[A graph is shows with close to 30 horizontal gray lines which seem not to change much, if any, as they go from left to right. Only the top 6 gray lines are distinctly separated from others. The top line is way above the second line which again is far above the next two that are close together. Two more close together is somewhat further down, and just below them the rest of the lines follow in close proximity down to the bottom of the graph. A single black line is also shown. It begins as the fifth highest line, just above the two last mentioned above. It is as all other lines going horizontally, but only for three fifth of the way across the graph, then it immediately drops down well below most of the other lines (at 1980) and levels off, continuing on its horizontal path. There is a caption above the graph, and both Y-axis and X-axis has labels. For the Y-axis there is a tick for every label, for the X-axis only every 2nd tick has a label. A unit is given on the top label on the Y-axis.] | ||
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:[Caption above graph:] | :[Caption above graph:] | ||
:Heights of mountains in Washington State | :Heights of mountains in Washington State | ||
:<small>Over time</small> | :<small>Over time</small> | ||
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:[X-axis:] | :[X-axis:] |