Quicksand has a deadly repute : a surprisingly high percent ofmovievillains overwhelm in it , and quite a few heroes have saved a damoiselle in distress from a silty , sloppy close . But quicksand is much more complex than Hollywood would have you believe . Here ’s a rundown of the fact about the mysterious muck .
1. Technically, quicksand is a colloid.
Most quicksand is a gummy mixture ofsand , clay , mud , or silt saturate with body of water . Scientifically speaking , it ’s a colloid — a situation in which one center ( backbone or silt ) is suspend in another core ( water supply ) without settling to the bottom . As long as the colloid stay on still , the particles stay on where they are . When the colloid is agitated by something — say , a person pace into it — the mixture becomes a liquified stain that can no longer support weight . Anything on the surface of the quicksand will begin to dip .
2. There are two kinds of quicksand.
Wet quicksand is the kind in which sand is suspended in water . juiceless quicksand occur when very fine Baroness Dudevant particles are suspended in air alternatively of a liquid state . This low - density combination , create in a research laboratory experiment and publish in the journalNaturein 2004 , instantly swallowed up an objective station on its control surface [ PDF ] . It is n’t clear where and how much dry quicksand really survive , though likely locations would be in deserts and at the base of operations of Amandine Aurore Lucie Dupin dunes , where atmosphere can flow among the fine grains .
3. Quicksand can form anywhere the conditions are right.
For quicksand to conformation , precondition must be perfect : There need to be a quantity of grainy dirt and a constant water source that saturates the ground . Commonlocationsfor quicksand include beaches , lakeshores , riverbank , marshes , and the ground wall subterraneous springs . The low - dwell river estuary of Florida and the Carolinas are prone to quicksand , while the canyons of southerly Utah , New Mexico , and northern Arizona can harbour quicksand when it forms around bounce .
4. Earthquakes can bring on quicksand-like conditions.
When a significantearthquakehits , its motion can make loose , dry soil routine like a liquid , a phenomenon calledliquefaction . The sand or soil can be ejected from the ground and destabilize the airfoil , so any building resting there will start sinking , much like the action of quicksand . That ’s exactly what happened in June 1964 when amagnitude 7.6quake struck Niigata , Japan . Relatively few citizenry were killed or injured , but widespread liquefaction damaged or ruin almost15,000 nursing home .
5. Quicksand made an early appearance in the movies.
Quicksand has been a motion-picture show image almost since the advent of movie house . The first dupe rescue from quicksand ’s boggy clutches was a woman inSaved from The Quicksand(1909 ) , a 12 - minute moving-picture show by the leading French studio Gaumont . In the film , a chemical group of Thelonious Sphere Monk rescues the independent character and she end up make a variety of religious January 6 . The heyday for using quicksand as a dangerous plot point lasted from the forties through the ' 60s , and in that latter decade , 3 per centum of film , or one in 35 , featured quicksand , according to ananalysisin Slate .
6. An Academy Award-winning film includes a famous quicksand scene.
The 1962 epicLawrence of Arabiawon seven Academy Awards , includingBest PictureandBest Director . One of its memorable scenes features a boy getting swallowed by quicksand during a sirocco ( his camel survives ) as T.E. Lawrence ( Peter O’Toole ) and Sherif Ali ( Omar Sharif ) struggle to save him . Hollywood screenwriters used the same plot twist inStar Wars(1977);The Princess Bride(1987 ) , in which Buttercup ( Robin Wright ) sinkhole within seconds;Jumanji(1995 ) , where Robin Williams ’s graphic symbol is stick up to his chin in the stuff ; and many more .
7. It probably won’t kill you.
At first glance , quicksand appears square . You wo n’t know you ’re caught in it until you stumble into it . After you step or shine in , the overall density of the quicksand changes ; the suspended particles sink to the bottom while water rises to the surface . This shift prevent people fromsinking all the room inand gives them a chance to assay to free themselves from the heavier , denser sand .
It ’s highly rare , but people have yield to other forces — hypothermia , dehydration , or drowning — when they ’ve been unable to extricate themselves from quicksand . In May 2023 , Illinois college pupil Zachary Porterbecame stuckwaist - deep in muddy quicksand in Alaska ’s Turnagain limb and drowned when the tide came in , despite first answerer ’ attempt to dislodge him .
8. You can survive quicksand by staying calm and lying on your back.
If you happen to step into quicksand , the first thing to do is get rid of your backpack or other weighed down items on your mortal — and do n’t panic . Then , lie on your backand pass around your limbs ; like a snowshoe , your body ’s larger surface area will prevent you from quickly slide down into the easy sand . Beginslowly moving your legsto churn up the gumption and bring the water to the surface , which should make it easier to be adrift and extract yourself from the muck . Having a cellular telephone to call 911 and a buddy with a rope or stout pole would n’t hurt , either .
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