If you’re a child of the 1980’s or earlier,
or just an avid movie watcher then there’s a great possibility that you have a some-what
irrational fear of sinking it a pit of quicksand. For years quicksand has been a common catastrophe
for characters in film and television such as The Princess Bride, Indiana Jones and the
Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and I Love Lucy. While this gag may provide any city dweller
with some exoctic tension, is quicksand actually a crisis we should prepare for? Today on The Infographics Show we’ll uncover
the dangers of quicksand and the best ways to escape if you ever find yourself in that
slippery situation. Unfortunately for some adventure lovers very
few of these movies and TV examples can actually stand up against scientific scrutiny. It is common to see a scene with a character
panicked, thrashing, screaming and sinking often times drowning, completely submerged
by the muddy ground, like in the case of Sheriff Denver Kid in the 1978 Western “Hot Lead
and Cold Feet”, where only his hat remained on the surface. If there are so many on-screen portrayals
of death or near death experiences by quicksand, why are there so few actual cases of people
meeting their demise this way? Mostly because Hollywood has it wrong, let’s
break down why this commonality in movies has duped the public perception of quicksand
and what the real-life dangers of quicksand actually are. Quicksand is often found on riverbanks, near
lakes, marshes or near coastal areas. It happens when two phases of matter, liquid
and solid, meet. It can be a mixture of sand and water, silt
and water, clay and water, sediment and water, or even sand and air. It is caused by the sand having more space
between particles than in dry sand. This is why if you try to build a sand castle
when your sand is too wet, you end up with a muddy lump, rather than a standing structure. One of the leading scientists on understanding
quicksand, Daniel Bonn of the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands explains that
quicksand is a non-Newtonian fluid, which means any amount of stress causes its viscosity
to quickly drop, or in other words it’s resistance to flow is lowered. While it may look solid, once the weight like
a human or animal disturbs it, this allows for more liquid to flow in, diminishing friction,
and then loses it’s ability to act as a solid, which is why you sink. When limbs are moved underneath the surface,
the movement creates a vacuum pressure which sinks you deeper, and requires a lot more
effort to move through. This vacuum effect is something you may have
experienced when stepping into certain consistencies of mud that pulls your shoe off. While you might be scared if you find yourself
suddenly sinking into the earth - don’t panic too hard. Continued movement, like flailing or “swimming”
keeps the mixture more like a liquid, causing you to sink. When you stop flailing, and start saying your
final goodbyes, crying, or screaming you may realize you’ve actually stopped sinking. This is all due to basic physics, the average
human has a density of about 1 gram per milliliter, while the average density of quicksand is
about 2 grams per milliliter, so you’d only sink half way even if you did everything wrong. This is because your legs are quite dense,
but the lungs in your torso are buoyant enough to keep you out of serious trouble. This means that the Hollywood depiction of
people getting sucked into quicksand and “drowning” is actually impossible, at no point would
the quicksand reach above your head. What a relief! But not really... If you find yourself stuck it is no easy feat
to free yourself from the insane pressure underneath the surface. There have been cases of quicksand deaths
but it’s never as fast as the movies portray. Usually deaths occur from exhaustion, sun
exposure, or if you're in the unfortunate situation of being stuck near the ocean where
the high tide will likely kill you, and then sweep you away. Let’s not forget to mention the threat of
wildlife, especially if you’re out in the open desert or rainforest. A slow and agonizing death is far more likely,
and terrifying. On July 7th, 2015 Jose Rey Escobedo went missing
at about 10am in San Antonio, Texas. Police received a call reporting a light blue
car had been parked underneath the San Antonio River Bridge in Goliad County for several
days. After his glasses and wallet were identified,
and camping or running away were largely ruled out, police started a widespread search of
the river, where Escobedo would often swim alone. A few days later Game Wardens Kevin Fagg and
William Zappe continued to search the San Antonio river by boat after a helicopter was
unsuccessful in locating him from above. What they found was Escobedo’s body lodged
in quicksand, face down, just 350 yards upstream from the bridge where he parked his car. While his true cause of death was never released
to public reports, the river was higher that day due to increased rain and it is likely
that he was drowned after being trapped in quicksand. Another interesting factor of Bonn’s study
was how intense the pressure is underneath the surface. He concluded that to pull a foot out of quicksand
at a rate of one centimeter per second would require the same force needed to lift a medium-sized
car. So unless you’re a superhero or have a party
of friends who aren’t stuck, it’s likely impossible you’d be able to free yourself
by pulling yourself out. Those who get stuck for hours, or even a whole
day will likely suffer permanent nerve damage, chest pain or potentially an entire limb due
to the high amounts of pressure to the body’s lower half. So what do you do if you find yourself knees,
waist or chest deep in this unforgiving substance? The first thing any expert will tell you is
don’t panic. Call for help if possible, but it’s not
a strong strategy to have a friend reach over and try to pull you out, as you have a higher
risk of pulling them in with you then of them actually being able to pull you out. Fast, panicked, and frantic movement will
only expedite the sinking. The next move you should make is to remove
any heavy objects off your person, like backpacks and your shoes if you’re able to. Shoes can be particularly problematic because
shoes with flexible soles can act as suction cups, and the suctioning effect can make freeing
yourself even more difficult. Once you’ve found your legs are stuck, it’s
important to move them slowly and deliberately as exhaustion is a major threat, because the
getting out process could take hours if you’re in deep enough. Next, wiggle your legs to allow water and
space to flow through and loosen the cement-like sand. While it is not always possible, attempt to
move backwards toward the more solid dirt, not forward to risk your head getting stuck. Then it’s time to redistribute your weight,
which is the key of the whole operation. If you’re ankle or knee deep, slowly sit
down, or if you’re waist deep, lean on your back. While it might sound that this tactic would
sink you further, a pit of quicksand is like a swimming pool, if you’re standing, you’ll
sink but if you attempt to lie on your back and spread out, you’ll float to the surface. Continue to wiggle and calmly work at getting
one leg unstuck at a time. Eventually, once one leg is free you have
to just continue working to free your other one by wiggling and crawling back to the hard
land. You’ll probably be exhausted and sunburned,
but you will have survived a daunting task, which many a movie and cartoon character are
unable to say. So there it is, and while dangerous because
of other contributing factors, like terrain, heat or wildlife, quicksand can’t actually
kill you like most of us thought it could growing up watching old cartoons and westerns. You won’t sink above you head, or get sucked
into the earth. Although you will get really stuck, and it
could take hours to free yourself, and if you’re by the ocean this could be deadly
when high tide hits, so work deliberately. Why do you think movies used to portray quicksand
this way? And why isn’t it nearly as popular in ones
today? And most importantly? Did this clear up any of your own irrational
fears about quicksand? Or did it just your fears stronger? Let us know in the comments! Also, be sure to check out our other video
How To Actually Survive Getting Shot! Thanks for watching, and, as always, don’t
forget to like, share, and subscribe. See you next time!
