Geography: quicksand

Self-tutoring about geography: the tutor mentions a legendary hazard.

When I was a kid, quicksand sometimes came up on adventure shows: someone might get stuck in it, or at least have to be careful around it. Quicksand seemed very dangerous.

Yet, because the shows I saw it on were always in the States, I got the idea quicksand couldn’t be in a boring place like where I lived. I found out I was wrong – partly by experience, partly by reading.

Quicksand, it seems, is common in some types of places, for instance along rivers or marshes. My understanding is that when the earth gets saturated, you have quicksand. Often, it seems, the water is rising from below, as from a spring.

I read that sinking in quicksand past the chest is unlikely; the problem is getting out of it. With patient, gentle, targeted motions, it’s most likely to escape. My understanding is that an important idea is to get your weight off your feet.

A few weeks back I encountered a shallow patch of quicksand – I sank halfway up to my knees when crossing some earth that had been firm last time. The rains had been so heavy, its surface no longer held my weight.

Source:

12news.com