2/29/2024 0 Comments Does quicksand really exist![]() ![]() Rather than struggle, a victim of quicksand should stick to calm movements. Even humans, who can more readily process what’s happening to them, will struggle against the downward force of sinking. When a living organism gets caught in quicksand, its gut reaction is panic. Escaping quicksand Credit: Pierce Martin/ Flickr/ CC BY 2.0 Quicksand is often depicted as a death trap, but with the proper reaction, getting caught in it is not a dooming scenario. Anything that crosses it, from a small animal to a human, will start to sink. As it loses viscosity, the patch of quicksand becomes unable to hold up any weight. With these disturbances, water separates from the grains, causing the liquid-like consistency. Since there is such a space between the grains of sand, when there is a vibration or added weight, they become unstable. It’s more than just sand Credit: ChiccoDodi FC/ iStockĪlong with the air-filled space, quicksand is comprised of a third component - water. There is another component to the unusual formation, however, that helps give it that thick consistency. While composed of sand, quicksand’s qualities are due to the 30% to 70% of air found between each grain. It’s a non-Newtonian liquid, meaning it doesn’t follow the characteristics of Newton’s Law of Viscosity. Though it has the word “sand” in its name, quicksand is not just an unstable patch of solid granules. Just as depicted in the movies, quicksand appears to have a solid state, but when touched, turns into a gelatinous liquid that can trap a person. While it may sound like the creation of a science-fiction writer, quicksand is absolutely real. Since it’s likely a question that’s been burning a hole in your mind, it seems appropriate to answer the question once and for all: Is quicksand a real thing? Does quicksand exist? Credit: NPS/ Jacob W. Even if you've heard stories about run-ins with it, have you ever met somebody who’s actually come face to face with quicksand? Quicksand does occur in deserts, but only very rarely: where loosely packed sands occur, such as on the down-wind sides of dunes, the amount of sinking is limited to a few centimeters, because once the air in the voids is expelled the grains are too densely packed to allow further compaction.Īnswer originally published on October 7, 2002.You’ve watched cartoon characters sink into it, seen depictions of it on the Silver Screen, and may have even heard a tale or two about it, but is quicksand even real? Maybe it’s not something you’ve ever considered, but there is a real possibility that the notion of quicksand was a fictional creation. In such cases, the loose packing is maintained by the upward movement of water. Most quicksand occurs in settings where there are natural springs, either at the base of alluvial fans (cone-shaped bodies of sand and gravel formed by rivers flowing from mountains), along riverbanks or on beaches at low tide. ![]() ![]() The sand collapses, or becomes 'quick,' when additional force from loading, vibration or the upward migration of water overcomes the friction holding the grains together. This arrangement is similar to a house of cards in that the space between the cards is significantly greater than the space occupied by the cards. Because many sand grains are elongate rather than spherical, loose packing of the grains can produce sand in which voids make up 30 to 70 percent of the mass. In normal sand, grains are packed tightly together to form a rigid mass, with about 25 to 30 percent of the space (voids) between the grains filled with air or water. Quicksand is a mixture of sand and water, or sand and air, that looks solid, but becomes unstable when disturbed by any additional stress. ![]() Long, a sedimentologist at the department of earth sciences at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario, explains. ![]()
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