If you’ve watched many western movies on TV, you know what quicksand is. Mom loves her action-packed western stories of cowboys and girls in the 0ld American West. One of her favorite westerns is Gun Smoke.
I can’t remember if we were watching The Virginian or Cheyenne. Anyway, unfortunately, this cowboy and his horse ended up in quicksand. The rider fell off his horse, and both he and the horse began to sink in the marsh.
I’ve seen marshy areas along river banks but never thought about quicksand. What’s the real deal with quicksand?
If you ever had any doubt, quicksand is real!
But!
This but is pretty important. But the real quicksand and what’s seen and experienced on television are as different as day and night. If you’re like me, what I knew about quicksand was limited to the scenes in movies.
But the properties and hazards portrayed in the movies are exaggerations that are fraught with misinformation.
First, what is quicksand?
Quicksand is liquefied soil: sand, silt, or clay with water in it.
To think that sand, a solid, can be liquefied with water is pretty interesting. But it’s not liquefied in the ordinary sense. The water and the sand form a colloid which is an insoluble substance mixed or suspended throughout another substance like a liquid.
When quicksand is in a liquefied state, it doesn’t support weight very well. But contrary to must-see-tv, the sand doesn’t pull someone down into a deep, endless abyss. A person standing upright in quicksand will probably sink up to waist level. In real life, the peril of entirely sinking in quicksand requires someone to fall face down in the sand and drown.
In the movie Mom and I watched, viewers were led to believe the horse sank. When the cowboy returned with help, the camera panned the quicksand area. There was no trace of the poor beast.
I read several articles and references that stated, “It is impossible for a human to sink entirely in quicksand.” As opposed to what’s seen on television, this is good news.
Why is sinking in an upright position an impossibility? It’s all about the math.
Quicksand appears to be a solid. The water and sand separate when agitated or disturbed, making the sediment dense. Quicksand’s density is 2 grams per cubic centimeter, but a human’s density is 1 gram per cubic centimeter.
In quicksand, objects sink relative to their weight and the displacement of the soil/water mix. In other words, when the object’s weight is equal to the weight of the displaced quicksand, the object floats due to its buoyancy.
It’s no surprise that quicksand is most common near the coast, along riverbanks, and in marshes. Not only water and sand can form quicksand but also air and sand.
There is also such a thing as desert quicksand or dry quicksand. Scientists say very fine sand overlaying more granular sand can form quicksand.
I don’t know the odds of coming in contact with quicksand, but it must be very low.
Getting stuck in quicksand can lead to death from drowning from an incoming tide or water, hypothermia, dehydration, and other means.
To escape quicksand, try to get help. If no help is accessible, the references advise making the sand more fluid by wriggling your legs and increasing your body’s surface. Once the sand’s grip loosens, you may be able to float out.
Watch for any warnings about quicksand when around sand and water.
Now that I know that quicksand is real and what’s on television is theater, my reactions to the western scenes will be slightly different.
Stay safe.