For generations of kids raised on Scooby-Doo and Looney Tunes, quicksand was a danger that seemed to lurk around every corner. One false step and you could meet a slow and suffocating demise!
Turns out, your chances of being swallowed by a bottomless beach pit are slim-to-none, but quicksand is a real phenomenon and not one to take lightly.
Found throughout the UK on beaches, riverbanks and marshlands, quicksand forms when sand (or clay) becomes waterlogged and loses its structure. In saturated sand, friction between the grains plunges. Agitate that sand by walking on it and the grains will slip past one another and the surface beneath your feet will liquefy and collapse.
But unlike in the cartoon terrors of yesteryear, you won’t be sucked down to your death.
Research published in the journal Nature in 2005 showed that quicksand’s density is higher than that of the human body. The torso is especially buoyant because of the lungs, so people rarely sink below waist level.
The true danger lies in the secondary risks; quicksand is often found in tidal areas, where rising waters can swiftly engulf and drown someone stuck in its grip. Even in non-tidal areas, a trapped person could face hypothermia, dehydration and exhaustion if help doesn’t arrive quickly.
Each year, dozens of people get stuck in UK quicksands and need to be rescued.
In 2017, four holidaymakers were saved from a tide with minutes to spare after they were trapped by quicksand in Morecambe Bay. The bay is the UK’s largest expanse of intertidal sand and mudflats, and is notorious for its quicksand and fast tides, which can rush in faster than a person can run.
The best way to stay safe around quicksand is to avoid it. Stick to marked paths and don’t venture into unknown terrain alone. If you do plan to explore near known risk spots, check the local tides, tell someone where you’re going and bring a charged mobile phone.
If you come a cropper, it’s important to stop others from trying to help you or they could get stuck too. If you have a phone, dial 999 and ask for the coastguard and use the what3words app to give them your location (it’s free to download and recommended by many emergency services in the UK and Ireland). Meanwhile, stay calm and avoid sudden movements; struggling makes the quicksand more unstable.
Instead, try to distribute your weight over as wide an area as possible by sitting or lying back. If you’re wearing a backpack, lose some weight by removing it, and try to keep your arms up and out of the quicksand. Next, slowly wiggle your legs side-to-side or back-and-forth.
Doing this will gradually create pockets around your limbs that fill with water and help loosen the quicksand’s grip.
This article is an answer to the question (asked by Ray MacDonald, via email) 'How deadly is quicksand?'
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