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Saturday 10 June 2017

Quicksand

Quicksand is a condition that occurs within any type of soil- but most common in sand. It happens when water in the sand cannot escape, which creates a liquefied soil that loses strength and cannot support weight.

Quicksand and warning sign at a gravel quarry in England, UK.. By Andrew Dunn 

A mule is less likely to sink in quicksand than a donkey. This is because the mule is said to remain calm and relaxed in quicksand while donkeys, due to their fear and anxiety, struggles to escape and thereby get trapped deeper and deeper.

By raising your legs slowly and laying on your back, you can't sink in quicksand.

Quicksand may be found inland (on riverbanks, near lakes, or in marshes), or near the coast.

One region notorious for its quicksands is Morecambe Bay, Yorkshire in North England. As the bay is very broad and shallow, a person trapped by the quicksand would be exposed to the danger of the fast moving tides.


People falling into (quicksand or a similar substance was once recurrent theme of adventure fiction, notably in movies. According to a study by the University of Southern California, this gimmick had its heyday in the 1960s, when 2.8% of all films showed someone sinking in mud, sand, or clay. The study also found that the number of films featuring these scenes increased steadily throughout the decade, from 1.2% in 1960 to 4.2% in 1969.

The study's authors suggest that the popularity of these scenes may be due to the fact that they are both suspenseful and visually appealing. Quicksand is a particularly dangerous substance, as it can quickly trap and drown people who are unlucky enough to fall into it. This danger makes scenes of people sinking in quicksand particularly suspenseful, as the viewer is left wondering whether or not the person will be able to escape. Additionally, the slow-motion sinking of a person's body into quicksand can be visually quite striking, making it a popular choice for filmmakers.

The southern sand octopus shoot jets of water into the sand below it, creating a pit of quicksand to escape from predators.

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