Use slow swimming motions to get yourself into a horizontal position and then roll yourself to terra firma. If one of your excursions around Normal is interrupted by quicksand, keep yourself still until you stop sinking (you will). If you struggle, though, you’ll only succeed in digging yourself deeper in. Its density is greater than the density of most things, including human bodies in other words, you can float in it. It can be found wherever sand and water can be found–especially near streams, beaches, and the mouths of rivers.Ĭontrary to popular belief, quicksand cannot suck you down and under. Basically, they can be found in any location which has loose grainy sand and water resource. “Quicksand” is the name given to a mass of sand particles that are supported by circulating water rather than by each other. Quicksand is a saturated sediment mixture of water and granular sand, commonly found near beaches, marshes, swamps, lakes, waterfalls, creek banks, and underground springs. In the next section, you will find out how to save yourself if you happen to fall into a pit of quicksand.Dear Cecil: Is there really such a thing as quicksand or is it just a make-believe sand trap found in Tarzan movies? If it does exist, where is it usually found, can it actually pull you down and under, and how can a person escape from it? Barbara R., Normal, Illinois This separation of particles causes the ground to loosen, and any mass on the sand will begin to sink through it. In my quest for the truth I was able to ascertain that only a handful of people worldwide have died from. If an excessive amount of water flows through the sand, it forces the sand particles apart. Quicksand does pose a threat, just not as significant as we once were lead to believe. This is what allows you to build sand castles.īut beach sand could easily become quicksand if enough water were thrust up through it. A moderate amount of water creates the capillary attraction that allows sand particles to clump together. If you move closer to the water, you'll notice that the sand that is moderately wet is even more tightly packed than the dry sand. The friction between the sand particles creates a stable surface to stand on. If you stand on the driest part of the beach, the sand holds you up just fine. We are not as dense as quicksand, so we will only ever sink partway like a rubber ducky in a tub. What Daniel found is that we can never drown in quicksand. As quirky as this experiment sounds, it has real-life applications. The next time you're at the beach, notice the difference in the sand as you stand on different parts of the beach that have varying levels of moisture. Thankfully, our iconic devil didn’t sink beneath the quicksand, never to be seen again. Places where quicksand is most likely to occur include: While quicksand can occur in almost any location where water is present, there are certain locations where it's more prevalent. Liquefaction can cause buildings to sink significantly during earthquakes. When soil liquefies, as with quicksand, it loses strength and behaves like a viscous liquid rather than a solid, according to the Utah Geological Survey. To understand quicksand, you have to understand the process of liquefaction. The vibration plus the water barrier reduces the friction between the sand particles and causes the sand to behave like a liquid. Larry Barron of the New South Wales Geological Survey. Vibration tends to enhance the quickness, so what is reasonably solid initially may become soft and then quick, according to Dr. The liquefied surface loses strength, causing buildings or other objects on that surface to sink or fall over. Earthquakes - The force of the shaking ground can increase the pressure of shallow groundwater, which liquefies sand and silt deposits.Flowing underground water - The force of the upward water flow opposes the force of gravity, causing the granules of sand to be more buoyant.There are two ways in which sand can become agitated enough to create quicksand: When the water trapped in the batch of sand can't escape, it creates liquefied soil that can no longer support weight. Quicksand is created when water saturates an area of loose sand and the ordinary sand is agitated. It can occur anywhere under the right conditions, according to Denise Dumouchelle, geologist with the United States Geological Survey (USGS). Quicksand is nothing more than a soupy mixture of sand and water. Quicksand is not a unique type of soil it is usually just sand or another type of grainy soil. ![]() ![]() The " quick" refers to how easily the sand shifts when in this semiliquid state. Quicksand is an interesting natural phenomenon - it is actually solid ground that has been liquefied by a saturation of water. This is a good explanation from "How Stuff Works"
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