What causes quicksand and where is it found? How many people actually?

Question

- became swallowed up by quicksand ?

Answer 1

There are quite a few varieties of "quicksnd" found in the U.S. I have encountered a few of them. The quicksand of hollywood legend doesn't exist. If it is thin enough, you can escape it by using a swimming motion. If it is thick enough, you can crawl or roll out of it. This assumes that you took the trouble to walk out into the middle of it and did not notice your feet sinking into the ground.

The springfed quicksand, sometimes found in Florida and south Georgia is easy enough to swim out of and shouldn't be a problem for anyone with any brains.

The worst is the marsh mud of the NC, SC, GA, and northern Florida coast. That's some sticky stuff. You won't sink over your head, but if you don't react quickly enough you could sink up to your waist or chest and be stuck there for a long, long time. I has some South Carolina marsh mud keep my boots after I managed to roll and crawl back out of it.

With reasonable caution and sensible action, quicksand is nothing more than a dirty mess.

Answer 2

Quicksand is liquefied soil, which is ordinary sand that has been over saturated to the point that the friction between sand particles has been reduced.

Quicksand forms in two ways, from flowing underground water and from earthquakes. Underground water flow pushes soil against gravity, causing the sand to be separated and therefore unable to hold any weight placed on it. With the shaking ground associated with earthquakes, underground water liquefies the soil, sometimes causing buildings to fall. Liquefaction is the basis for quicksand formation, and can occur wherever underground water is present. Therefore, quicksand is found near bodies of water (whether above or below ground) such as at river deltas or near shores. It does NOT occur in the desert, because of lack of water!

Quicksand is found most anywhere water and sand mix every day. Good places to find quicksand are on ocean coasts, near sandy creek beds and area of sand over an impervious clay substructure. Another good place to find quicksand is in hilly country with abundant caves and underground springs lurking beneath.

For the most part, the Deep Sinking definition of "quicksand" has its roots in Hollywood.  Very few people have actually succumbed to quicksand.