Just Wondering

Before she left for Upstate New York, my roomate and I were talking one night about quick sand. What is it? Is it really bottomless? What happens when you fall it? Only now have I looked it up.

Quicksand is exagerated in movies. It is only a few feet deep, usually even less. It is ordinary sand that has been saturated in water to the point that friction between the sand particles is virtually nil. (There are different levels of saturation).
If you step in quicksand, it won't suck you down. If you move your arms or legs quickly, you'll cause a vaccum which is what you fight.

"When soil liquefies, as with quicksand, it loses strength and behaves like a viscous liquid rather than a solid, according to the Utah Geological Survey. Liquefaction can cause buildings to sink significantly during earthquakes.
While quicksand can occur in almost any location where water is present, there are certain locations where it's more prevalent. Places where quicksand is most likely to occur include:
- Riverbanks
- Beaches
- Lake shorelines
- Near underground springs
- Marshes "

The human body has a density of 62.4 pounds per cubic foot (1 g/cm3) and is able to float on water. Quicksand is denser than water -- it has a density of about 125 pounds per cubic foot (2 g/cm3) -- which means you can float more easily on quicksand than on water. The key is to not panic. Most people who drown in quicksand, or any liquid for that matter, are usually those who panic and begin flailing their arms and thus have to fight the vaccum they create. Don't panic; stretch out your arms and legs to cover more area and use very slow movements to paddle to a safe shore.

Isn't that cool? I know that is only touching on some of the info, but I'm tired so that's all for now, folks.

*info from Howthingswork.com