Quicksand was one thing I feared as a child even when I wasn't going anywhere near such a thing. Movies like Baywatch in 1998, Blazing Saddles in 1974, Neighbors in 1981, and Apocalypto in 2006. These movies show us that quicksand is a no-escape region, and it will suck us up till we breathe our last. Movies started showing us quicksand in the 20th century with film in the 1960s putting it in at least one scene but while your director is there to make money for directing a movie and the producer is to get his profit for investing, we cannot believe everything that is said in a movie, especially with quicksand.
An area of sand, silt, or clay is saturated by water (colloid) till it cannot hold any mass. In quicksand, the solutes are suspended in the water. When there is no water, the tight friction between sand or clay allows for them to hold together in a force chain allowing anything to pass through it. With quicksand, the friction between the granules is reduced since there is water in them making the mixture behave like a liquid rather than a solid.
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Since quicksand is a non-Newtonian fluid, its viscosity reduces with the application of stress. Undisturbed, it behaves like a solid, but it begins to give way when there is pressure on it. Quicksands are found around watery locations like beaches, lakes, marshes, and rivers. It can also be found in areas with underground water like areas with subterranean springs.
While the scenes in movies can be overdramatic we cannot deny that quicksand can be a very disturbing issue when you are stuck in it but the danger it poses is pretty low. First, quicksand cannot drag into the ground as fast as movies portray them. The majority of quicksand patches aren't as deep as they are portrayed with measurements of about 2 to 3 meters and it is only half as dense as humans.
If you sink into a quicksand, you are expected to float back up to about half your body unless you struggle and stress it causing the viscosity around to drop and causing you to sink further and when you stop to move, it begins to thicken and traps you more. The quicksand traps you and leaves you to other factors like heat stroke or dehydration in places away from the sea or hypothermia in cold climates, holding you down till the tides reach you in areas close to oceans. It can also leave one exhausted after struggling and vulnerable to predators.
If you are ever stuck in quicksand, do not panic. Take away every object that could increase your weight and call for help if you are within the reach of others, or call emergency services if you are close to your phone. You can lay on your back like you want to perform a backstroke and carefully move your legs to introduce water into the leg area and reduce the viscosity of the quicksand. Never use an object to draw yourself out rather put your weight on it so your overall weight can be reduced in the quicksand. Ensure you call for help if you cannot do this so you are rescued out of it soon enough.
Read More
- https://www.science.org/content/article/diving-deep-quicksand
- https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/quicksand-science
- https://www.science.org.au/curious/space-time/can-you-really-die-quicksand
- https://www.livescience.com/33350-how-quicksand-works.html
- https://www.soils4teachers.org/quicksand/
- https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-is-quicksand/
- https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/quicksand-science-why-it-traps-how-to