Accessible only during low tide, the trail has claimed some who have gotten stuck in the quicksand and could not escape before the tide returned “faster than a man could run”. The Broomway path in the UK is a well-known hazard in Southend-on-Sea, England along the edge of the aptly named Foulness Island. As with other areas, it was difficult to tell what ground was unstable until you stepped in it. WOMEN IN QUICKSAND SINK FREEIn 2014, a 78-year-old woman who frequently hiked alone in Arches National Park, Washington without issue became stuck in quicksand for 14 hours before rescuers helped free her. A similar event in 2012 in Geelong, Australia required the horse to be sedated to get him out before the tide came in. In 2019, two horses had to be rescued from Merthyr Mawr beach in Glamorgan, South Wales after they sunk into quicksand. It can take special equipment to pull them out. Horses may panic and become exhausted trying to escape. Locally known as “jelly sands”, areas of quicksand occur around the Santa Ana River in California, posing a threat to horses who step onto damp sand only to sink in. They can even move locations from one day to the next. They can be a fairly permanent feature or appear in response to wet conditions. LocationsĪreas of quicksand or dangerously sticky mud or clay are found around the world near sources of water. We were assured that quicksand is real but you can’t sink in more than halfway. The results of the experiment made news headlines. In 2005, researchers published in Nature how they simulated natural quicksand from a location in Iran using sand, clay, and saltwater. You are almost guaranteed to lose your shoes during a quicksand escape if they aren’t laced tight. The high viscosity of the saturated sand creates resistance and suction. It is always more dense than water alone. Quicksand doesn’t suck you down, but you sink into as you would in any liquid. No scary creatures live in the sand to consume you. As mentioned, quicksand pits are not bottomless. “Quick” refers to how easily the sand changes character from solid to liquid. “Quick” suggests the sand comes to life but instead it gives way. Kids experiencing quicksand at Mont-Saint-Michel, an island in Normandy, France. Therefore, thrashing around will indeed cause you to sink and become more engulfed. The higher the stress applied to the material, the more liquid it becomes. Is this a liquid or a solid? It’s a thixotropic solution.) (Add water to corn starch while slowly stirring to make it just liquid. Clay deposits can exhibit thixotropic behavior and lose their shear strength suddenly due to vibration. Silty areas can more easily liquify than sand. Natural areas of quicksand can be found where there is upward flowing water, like at the outflow of spring, or near rivers or on beaches where water is present just below the surface. Buildings constructed on wet ground can collapse during the shaking when the shear strength is suddenly reduced and the particles flow past each other. Vibration, such as from an earthquake, can trigger a complex process called liquefaction. The sand suddenly loses stability and collapses. The sand may look stable and can hold light weight but a force such as a foot bearing down disrupts the balance. Additional water reduces friction, the particles separate and the mixture flows. A moderate amount of water and sand results in packed grains that are held fairly tightly together and can sustain weight. Think about how you moisten sand at the beach to build up a sand castle. “Lighning sand” from the The Princess Bride (1987) Sediment + water
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