That is a long and powerfull comic title right there. Yeah, they hit rock and dirt and it was over. They didn’t even get close to the Earth’s core, or even so we’ll never quite know what would have happened.

Every once in a while the question of the black dirt and rock comes up. Antarctica has soil that is anywhere from gray to brown to black. Antarctica has a history of volcanoes (which can make rock and soil black), including the Antarctica peninsula which is probably the most photographed. This contrast of white and black most likely makes for more striking photos so I assume the large percentage of the photos we see do have black dirt and rocks. Also makes it more striking for the comic. I’m not sure what the actual ratio of soil color is, nor does anyone probably know with most of the continent covered in snow and ice.

Also thanks to some of our brainy readers for chiming in with their thoughts on journeying to the center of the earth. Lee said “the gravity would reduce as you approached the centre because there’d be an increasing amount of mass pulling on you from above, and a decreasing amount below.” So does that mean if you want to lose some weight then you should dig a deep hole and stand in it? 🙂 Professor-Oak mentioned that “an alternate plan would be to dig down to 50,000 feet or so, and then dig level in a straight line. As long as the line was straight and level, some 12,435 miles later they would be 50,000 feet under the north pole.” That’s an interesting thought, because the level would actually take you in a curve around the core path. Man, you could have some fun with a level down near the center of the earth, it would be really touchy. 😉 Maybe future travel will have some underground rails taking these shortcuts through parts of the earth.