All thoseLooney Tunesshows you watched as a kid were deep betray . Quicksand , as it turn out , is a comparatively insignificant menace to your well - being and barely ever appear in adult life . That said , this slurry - like solution is a real affair and certainly something that should be taken badly .
Quicksand became a vulgar image of Hollywood productions during the post - war boom of action - packed B - pic , providing the perfect chance for a dramatic death and an alien plot equipment . According toSlate , closely 3 pct of the films in the sixties sport a character sinking in some form of clay , oozing clay , or quicksand . Arguably the most famed run - in with sinking guts is the 1962 classicLawrence of Arabia .
It continued to be a peculiarly common cliché through the 1980s when roughly one of every 75 new flick featured a assortment of sand quick . Think : The Princess BrideandThe NeverEnding Story , not to mention countless appearances in cartoon shows likeThe TransformersandGI Joe .
Cameos of quicksand have slowly declined in more recent decades , but they still come along in dramatic depicting much more than they do on the medium day-after-day commute .
What is quicksand?
Quicksand is a sludgy solution of sand ( or other fine granular material like silt or stiff ) that ’s become mixed with just the right quantity of water , creating a control surface that looks like a solid , but behaves like a semi - gluey liquid , like a super - wooden-headed milkshake .
They are most commonly find near dead body of water , like riverbanks or beaches , where the deposit is prostrate to become saturated .
It can act as anon - Newtonian fluid , meaning any applied stress ( like a punch or a stomp ) will make its apparent viscousness decrease and effectively turn it solid . This means , in possibility , you should be able to run across without sinking . On the other helping hand , any seek to yank a limb out of the quicksand will also make it to seize up and give it substantial - like properties . This is where the old mantra of “ the more you struggle , the more you ’ll sink ” hail from .
Can you go fully under in quicksand?
As unpleasant as this might voice , it ’s astonishingly punishing for a man to completely submerge themselves in quicksand .
An experiment by Dutch scientists , report in the journalNaturein 2005 , found that humanity are about half the density of quicksand , intend they should technically float on the quicksand provided they do n’t shinny and bury themselves . The useful survival summit is to ditch any possessions you have on you , such as a backpack , as soon as potential .
“ A person trap in salt - lake quicksand is not in any risk of being sucked under completely , ” concord to the study .
“ Any unfortunate victim should sink midway into the quicksand , but could then take solacement from the cognition that there would be no peril of being sucked beneath the control surface . "
Is quicksand a real danger?
Unfortunately , the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention nor any other health sanction around the world collect information on the number of quicksand deaths they come across each year . That ’s because they are exceptionally rare , not because they are covering any kind of quicksand conspiracy .
Freak accidents can occur , however . Most calamitous incidents with quicksand imply people becoming stuck in the basis and succumbing to other factors like drying up , hypothermia , or drowning from rip tides .
How to escape quicksand
If you do recover yourself stick in quicksand , there are a few matter you may do to comfort the billet . First and first , do n’t panic ( easier said than done , evidently ) . Flailing around and trying to pull out your own limbs is likely to result in more of your body becoming submerge , which is n’t unspoilt tidings .
As counterintuitive as it might seem , it ’s often advised that you be given back and spread out to spread your weight unit more evenly . This , in theory , should help oneself you be adrift on the surface and not plummet . you could also gently joggle your legs , which can introduce more water to the sediment and liquefy it .
Your best stakes is to find international help as quickly as potential . Time is of the nub , so act quickly and calmly .
