We’ve all seen the films. A man is caught in quicksand, begging onlookers for help, but the more he struggles, the further down into the sand he is sucked until eventually he disappears. All that’s left is sinister sand, and maybe his hat. There are so many films featuring death by quicksand that Slate journalist Daniel Engbar has even tracked the peak quicksand years in film. In the 1960s, one in 35 films featured quicksands. They were in everything from Lawrence of Arabia to The Monkees.
Yet the evidence that the more you struggle, the further you sink until you drown, is rather lacking. Quicksand usually consists of sand or clay and salt that’s become waterlogged, often in river deltas. The ground looks solid, but when you step on it the sand begins to liquefy. But then the water and sand separate, leaving a layer of densely packed wet sand which can trap it. The friction between the sand particles is much-reduced, meaning it can’t support your weight anymore and at first you do sink. It is true that struggling can make you sink in further, but would you actually sink far enough to drown?
via BBC
