quicksand
American Heritage Dictionary:
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quick·sand
(kwĭk'sănd') 
n.
n.
- A bed of loose sand mixed with water forming a soft shifting mass that yields easily to pressure and tends to engulf any object resting on its surface.
- A place or situation into which entry can be swift and sudden but from which extrication can be difficult or impossible. Often used in the plural: "This theory of the future entrapped [them] in the quicksands of Vietnam" (Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.).
[Middle English quyksond, living sand : quick, quyk, living; see quick + sand, sond, sand; see sand.]
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia:
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quicksand
State in which water-saturated sand loses its supporting capacity and acquires the characteristics of a liquid. Quicksand is usually found in a hollow at the mouth of a large river or along a flat stretch of stream or beach where pools of water become partly filled with sand and an underlying layer of stiff clay or other dense material prevents drainage. Mixtures of sand, mud, and vegetation in bogs often act like true quicksands. Any sand may become quick if its effective weight is being carried by water between the grains. In that case, even a footstep may collapse the loose structure. The sand-water suspension is denser than an animal or human body, so the body cannot sink below the surface, but struggling may lead to loss of balance and drowning.
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Oxford Dictionary of Geography:
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quicksand
Unconsolidated sand which cannot support any significant weight when saturated with water, and thus semi-liquid. Quicksands are common when large amounts of water accumulate in sand.
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Fine sand, sometimes with an admixture of clay, which is saturated with water so that it has no bearing capacity at its surface; fine sand in a quick condition.
Science Q&A:
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What is quicksand?
Quicksand is a mass of sand and mud that contains a large amount of water. A thin film separates individual grains of sand so the mixture has the characteristics of a liquid. Quicksand is found at the mouths of large rivers or other areas that have a constant source of water. Heavy objects, including humans, can sink when encountering quicksand and the mixture collapses. However, since the density of the sand/water mix is slightly greater than the density of the human body, most humans can actually float on quicksand.
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The Dream Encyclopedia:
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Quicksand
Quicksand may symbolize losing one's footing and sinking into the quicksand of one's emotions or the unconscious. Dreaming about being in quicksand may reflect circumstances in the business or personal life of the dreamer that are beyond the dreamer's control.
Q&A for Kids:
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What is quicksand?
Quicksand is regular sand into which water is forced from below. Usually an underground spring supplies the water that pushes up into a deposit of sand. The extra water makes it so the sand particles don't hold together as well, and they become unstable to walk on. Quicksand is like a thick soup of sand and water-it isn't as watery as a puddle but isn't as firm as regular sand either. A large person or animal that strays into quicksand-which often looks deceptively dry on top-can sink quickly, even disappearing under its surface.
Deposits of quicksand are rare, and they usually aren't very deep. If you do find yourself sinking into the muck, try to hold on to something solid and pull yourself out, or lie on your back with your arms out as if you were floating in water and wait for rescuers to come. It's easy enough to float in quicksand if you stay fairly still; struggling to get out, on the other hand, only makes you sink faster.
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Random House Word Menu:
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categories related to 'quicksand'
- Plains and Marshes - quicksand: deep bed of loose sand saturated with water that yields underfoot
See crossword solutions for the clue Wikipedia on Answers.com:
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Quicksand
This article is about the geological feature. For other uses, see Quicksand (disambiguation).
Quicksand is a colloid hydrogel consisting of fine granular material (such as sand or silt), clay, and water.
Quicksand forms when water saturates an area of loose sand and the sand is agitated. When the water trapped in the sand cannot escape, it creates liquefied soil that cannot support weight. Quicksand can be formed by standing or (upwards) flowing underground water (as from an underground spring), or by earthquakes. In the case of flowing underground water, the force of the water flow opposes the force of gravity, causing the granules of sand to be more buoyant. In the case of earthquakes, the shaking force can increase the pressure of shallow groundwater, liquefying sand and silt deposits. In both cases, the liquefied surface loses strength, causing buildings or other objects on that surface to sink or fall over.
The saturated sediment may appear quite solid until a change in pressure or shock initiates liquefaction. This causes the sand to form a suspension, with each grain surrounded by a thin film of water. This cushioning gives quicksand, and other liquefied sediments, a spongy, fluidlike texture. Objects in the liquefied sand sink to the level at which the weight of the object is equal to the weight of the displaced sand/water mix and the object floats due to its buoyancy.
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Properties
Quicksand is a non-Newtonian fluid: when undisturbed, it often appears to be solid ("gel" form), but a minor (less than 1%) change in the stress on the quicksand will cause a sudden decrease in its viscosity ("sol" form). After an initial disturbance — such as a person attempting to walk on it — the water and sand in the quicksand separate and dense regions of sand sediment form; it is because of the formation of these high volume fraction regions that the viscosity of the quicksand seems to increase suddenly. Someone stepping on it will start to sink. To move within the quicksand, a person or object must apply sufficient pressure on the compacted sand to re-introduce enough water to liquefy it. The forces required to do this are quite large: to remove a foot from quicksand at a speed of .01 m/s would require the same amount of force as "that needed to lift a medium-sized car."[1]
Because of the higher density of the quicksand, it would be impossible for a human or animal to completely sink in the quicksand, though natural hazards present around the quicksand would lead people to believe that quicksand is dangerous. In actuality the quicksand is harmless on its own, but because it greatly impedes human locomotion, the quicksand would allow harsher elements like solar radiation, dehydration, hypothermia or tides to harm a trapped person.[2]
The way to escape is to wiggle the legs as slowly as possible in order to reduce viscosity, to try spreading your arms and legs far apart and lying prone to increase your surface area, which should allow you to float.[3]
Prevalence
Quicksand may be found inland (on riverbanks, near lakes, or in marshes), or near the coast.
In fiction
People falling into (and, unrealistically, being submerged in) quicksand or a similar substance is a trope of adventure fiction, notably movies. According to Slate, this gimmick had its heyday in the 1960s, when almost 3% of all films showed someone sinking in mud, sand, or clay, but it has since fallen out of use. The proliferation of quicksand scenes in movies has given rise to an internet subculture scene dedicated to the topic.[4]
In music
Pete Seeger's song "Waist Deep in the Big Muddy" mentions someone drowning after getting stuck in quicksand.
See also
References
- ^ Khaldoun, A., E. Eiser, G. H. Wegdam, and Daniel Bonn. 2005. "Rheology: Liquefaction of quicksand under stress." Nature 437 (29 Sept.): 635. doi:10.1038/437635a
- ^ Discovery Channel. MythBusters. Season 2. "Killer Quicksand." October 20, 2004.
- ^ Bakalarfor, Nicholas (September 28, 2005). "Quicksand Science: Why It Traps, How to Escape". National Geographic News. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/09/0928_050928_quicksand.html. Retrieved October 9, 2011.
- ^ Engber, Daniel (23 August 2010). "Terra Infirma: The rise and fall of quicksand.". Slate. http://www.slate.com/id/2264312/. Retrieved 23 August 2010.
External links
Media related to Quicksand at Wikimedia Commons
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
Translations:
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Quicksand
Nederlands (Dutch)
drijfzand, gevaarlijke situatie
Français (French)
n. - sables mouvants, (fig) bourbier
Deutsch (German)
n. - Treibsand, Mahlsand
Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - κινούμενη άμμος
Italiano (Italian)
sabbie mobili
Português (Portuguese)
n. - areia movediça (f)
Русский (Russian)
зыбучие пески
Español (Spanish)
n. - arena movediza
Svenska (Swedish)
n. - kvicksand
中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
流沙, 危险状态, 流沙地
中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 流沙, 危險狀態, 流沙地
한국어 (Korean)
n. - 유사, 모래밭, 마음을 놓을 수 없는 상태
العربيه (Arabic)
(الاسم) الرمل اللين تغرق فيه الأرجل, حاله خطر, وقت الضيق
עברית (Hebrew)
n. - חול טובעני
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Architecture and Construction. Copyright © 2003 by McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
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