How scary are quicksands? How are they formed? How to get out of quicksand

Nature is terrible in her anger. Its arsenal includes rivers of boiling lava, giant tsunami waves, destructive earthquakes, bottomless swamps of swamps, floods. There is another terrible weapon. These are quicksands, which have long been called “dry swamps”.

Legends of Quicksand

They frighten children and travelers; they are told by old people instead of bedtime stories. Only unlike fictional stories, quicksand is a terrible reality that people living on the coasts most often encounter. Imagine: a storm, a ship in distress, desperate people. And suddenly in the distance there is a shore - hope for salvation. With great difficulty, the ship docks, but the cries of “Hurray” are replaced by cries of horror. The ship begins to slowly sink into the coastal sand. People are trying to escape, but, alas, few succeed.

Such cases, although they were not rare, are still almost all counted. But the number of people who disappeared during walks cannot be counted at all. The sand underfoot suddenly turns into a trap, the person panics, begins to flounder and drowns.

Where are the most dangerous places with quicksand?

England
This is the town of Arnside, located on the coast of Morecambe Bay. The length of the strip of quicksand is 80 (!) meters - a giant trap.

This is the Goodwin Shoals on the South Foreland Cape. The second name is “Ship Graveyard”. It looks terrifying: the skeletons and sides, randomly scattered along the coast, are covered with sand. In other places you can only see the tip of the mast. A grim sight.

Alaska
This is the Tarnagen fjord.

Jamaica
This is the place where the city of Port Royal once stood, which disappeared in the 17th century. The original version is that there was an earthquake in 1692. The impact of the elements was powerful, a tidal wave destroyed the city, and the sea swallowed it. In 1992, scientists were able to prove that the city really drowned, but not in the water. He is another victim of the quicksand.

Caribbean Islands

Coast of Canada
In principle, quicksand can occur anywhere there is water, sand and rocks. That is, the shores of lakes and seas, as well as large rivers, can be considered dangerous. On the outskirts of deserts, you can also fall into a trap created by quicksand.

How are quicksand formed?

If you remember your school physics lessons, you can easily find the answer to the formation of quicksand. The phenomenon of this phenomenon lies in the ratio of the amount of sand and water, as well as their interaction. What does dry (and therefore safe) sand consist of? From countless grains of sand and air. What happens if you add water here? The water will begin to envelop each grain of sand, and a film will form around it. Since the grains of sand have tiny particles dust, then the cementing process begins, in which they take an active part. This is how a completely new substance is formed - viscous and very viscous.

This means that for ordinary sand to turn into quicksand, it needs to be wet.. A bucket of water will not help, you need a constant source of water, and the larger it is, the greater the danger. In coastal places it is a tidal wave. The rest have underground springs. The depth of the source varies. If the mass of sand is large, then the estimated depth can reach forty meters. Moreover, to create fluidity, only such water sources are suitable that are located practically in vertical position or slightly tilted. On the surface everything looks quite harmless: sand, pebbles here and there, a couple of bushes. Without special instruments, it is impossible to determine whether there is water in this place, whether the sand is wet, and what the extent of the danger is.

And the water works at this time, constantly wetting the layers of sand, causing it to crumble. This process is invisible from above; even specialists cannot determine it. But as soon as any heavy object gets here, the trap is triggered. The process of suction begins, being pulled deeper.

How to check if there is quicksand in this place?

It's better not to do this. Don't know the area? Avoid the sand that is pleasant to your bare feet. This measure is desirable everywhere and mandatory for those places where the trap has been triggered at least once. There is usually a rescue service and warning signs in these areas.

Is there a chance to get out of the quicksand?

The answer is clear - yes. And now a big BUT. Only those who know what and how to do and do not get confused have a chance, that is, they will be able not to panic.

The actions are simple: lie on your back, try to spread your arms and legs, that is, take up as much space as possible. If you squeeze into a ball, the weight will put pressure on one place, and the body will begin to sink faster. Usually both legs fall into the trap first, sometimes one gets stuck - this can be considered real luck. Lying on your back, with your arms outstretched, you need to slowly, without sudden movements, pull out your legs. The process may take an hour, but be patient and persistent - your life is worth it. After you free your legs, you need to determine where you came from. There, on the other side, it's safe hard surface. That's where you row, and in the literal sense of the word. Swim on the sand, preferably on your back. You can not? Carefully roll over onto your stomach and, pushing off with your arms and legs, “swim.” And remember: any sudden movement and you will be pulled into the sand.

Quicksand is a unique phenomenon, like all other inventions of Nature.

There is a very beautiful place in Alaska - Tarnagen Fjord. In 1988, two tourists, the Dixon couple, decided to ride along the coast at low tide. The car got stuck in the sand. Adrianna Dixon got out of the car and instantly fell into the ground up to her knees.

The husband tried to pull the woman out, but after suffering for several hours he was unable to free her from the trap. The sand was compressed and held the feet like cement. Dixon called rescuers, but the water was already rising in the fjord - the tide had begun. It was not possible to save the woman who fell into quicksand - the unfortunate woman drowned.

Quicksand is a moving sandy surface that can suck in any object. The suction speed depends on the sand structure, mass and volume foreign object and ranges from a few minutes to several months.

There are many legends and creepy stories associated with quicksand. Most of them objectively reflect the terrible danger lurking under the surface of the sand, which at first glance seems so harmless.

In 2000, the US National Geographic Society released a movie about quicksand, shot in the tradition of Hollywood horror films, after watching which you are unlikely to want to sunbathe even on a well-maintained sandy beach.

Most of the legends about quicksand originated in England in sea coasts, where for centuries there have been dangerous areas that trap a person or animal who carelessly steps onto the treacherous surface.

Here is an excerpt from Wilkie Collins' novel The Moonstone:

“Between the two rocks lies the worst quicksand on the whole Yorkshire coast. During the ebb and flow of the tide, something happens in their depths, causing the entire surface of the sands to fluctuate in the most unusual way... A secluded and scary place. No boat dares to enter this bay... Even birds fly away from the quicksand. The tide began to rise, and the terrible sand began to tremble. Its brown mass slowly rose, and then it all began to tremble...”

Back in the 19th century, most of these dangerous places in England were filled up and destroyed. There are currently no quicksands in densely populated areas.

Until now, scientists have not fully understood the nature of this dangerous phenomenon. Some researchers believe that the ability to suction is determined by the special shape of the sand grains. According to one of the hypotheses put forward by Russian physicist Vitaly Frolov, the mechanism of action of quicksand is due to electrical effects, as a result of which friction between grains of sand decreases and the sand becomes fluid.

If the fluidity extends to a depth of several meters, the soil becomes viscous and sucks in any massive body that gets into it. American geologist George Clark from the University of Kansas studied a unique phenomenon for many years and came to the conclusion that quicksand is ordinary sand mixed with water and having some properties of a liquid medium.

According to Clark, fluidity is not a natural phenomenon, but special condition sand. The latter occurs, for example, on a surface periodically flooded by the tide, or if an underground river flows under a mass of sand. Typically, quicksand is located in hilly areas where underground water flows often change direction and can rise to the surface or go deeper.

When the water flow rises, it does not appear outwardly, although the surface of the earth suddenly becomes very dangerous. This happened in England in Arnside in 1999, when, in front of his parents’ eyes, sand sucked his four-year-old son up to his waist.

Fortunately, rescuers arrived in time and tragedy was averted. Arnside is located near Morecambe Bay, famous for its high tides.

At low tide, the water recedes 11 kilometers, exposing the sandy bottom of the bay. Those brave souls who dare to step on this sand, which seems like solid ground, are instantly sucked in. The legs become squeezed by a hardened mass, and it is impossible to pull them out without outside help. If this is not done in time, a person dies under the water of the tide, as happened with Adrianna Dixon.

Not only tidal beaches, but also the banks of some rivers are sometimes fraught with invisible danger.

Sable Island, located in the Atlantic Ocean 180 kilometers from the coast of Canada, has become notorious among sailors, near which there are many reefs, which is why sea vessels sometimes suffered disasters there and were thrown ashore. A few months later, the sand sucked up the wreckage without leaving a trace. There are a lot of dangerous quicksand in Alaska; the longest of the peninsula's fjords, completely filled with quicksand, stretches for 150 kilometers.

There are also quicksands in the Sahara, one of the driest and lifeless deserts on the planet. Entire caravans disappear there without a trace. Tuareg nomads talk about heartbreaking screams coming from underground at night. They believe that these are the groaning souls of people swallowed up in the greedy belly of the desert.

Recently, Russian scientists made a discovery based on photographs earth's surface received from the satellite, a powerful underground river flows under the desert. Perhaps the waters of this stream give some places in the desert the properties of fluidity.

Quicksand is most often found in hilly areas or tidal areas. Moving from the mountains, streams of water move through channels cut inside dolomite and limestone rocks. Somewhere it breaks through a stone and rushes upward in a powerful stream.

If a layer of sand is encountered along the way, the flow of water coming from below can turn it into quicksand. The sun dries upper layer sand, and a thin hard crust forms on it, on which grass may even have time to grow. The illusion of well-being and tranquility will instantly evaporate; as soon as you step on it, the soil will swim from under your feet.

Why does a person fall into quicksand? The point is the resulting structure of the arrangement of grains of sand. The flow of water coming from below whips up a loose cushion of grains of sand, which is in relative equilibrium for some time. The weight of a traveler who wanders into such a place collapses the structure.

The grains of sand, being redistributed, move along with the body of the victim, additionally as if sucking the poor fellow into the soil layer. After this, the structure of the sand around the unfortunate person becomes completely different - tightly pressed wet grains of sand form a trap due to the force of the surface tension of the water layer.

When you try to pull your leg out, a vacuum of air is created with enormous force pulling leg back. The force required to lift a leg in such a situation is comparable to the weight of a car. If the sand were dry, then with slow movement, the air between the grains of sand would first come to the vacated space, and then the sand itself, crumbling, would fill the gap.

A person buried even up to his neck in ordinary sand can easily get out of it on his own (anticipating objections, let me remind you that in the White Sun of the Desert the hero was previously tied up). In quicksand, a viscosity comparable to thick jelly will not allow this to be done.

The density of quicksand is approximately 1.6 times greater than the density of water, but this makes it impossible to swim in it. Due to the high humidity, the sand is viscous, and any attempt to move in it is met with strong resistance. The slowly flowing sand mass does not have time to fill the cavity that appears behind the displaced object, and a rarefaction or vacuum arises in it.

Force atmospheric pressure strives to return the object to its original place - it seems that the sand is “sucking in” its victim. Thus, it is possible to move in quicksand, but only extremely slowly and smoothly, since the mixture of water and sand is inertial with respect to rapid movements: in response to a sudden movement, it seems to harden.

It is difficult to even approximately estimate the number of victims of the deadly sands; in any case, it exceeds thousands, and perhaps tens of thousands. In 1692, in Jamaica, quicksand swallowed up an entire area of the city of Port Royal, killing over two thousand people. Port Royal was a very large, wealthy port and home to the largest slave market.

Since 1674, by appointment of King Charles II of England, the famous pirate Henry Morgan became mayor of the city. However, the location for the construction of the city was chosen extremely poorly - Port Royal was located on a 16-kilometer sand spit. Its top layer is still saturated with water, and below is a mixture of gravel, sand and rock fragments.

On June 7, 1692, an earthquake began, and the sand under the city suddenly began to suck in buildings and people. Descriptions of the tragedy have been preserved in historical chronicles. Some city residents instantly fell underground, others were sucked in up to their knees or waist.

After the end of the earthquake, which lasted six minutes, the sand instantly turned into a solid mass, resembling cement, which held the people tightly in its vice. The unfortunates were suffocating, walled up alive in the ground.

Most died, unable to get out; their torsos sticking out of the sand were eaten by wild dogs. Back in the 19th century, on the site of the buried city, the remains of the walls of collapsed houses stuck out of the sand. But in 1907, another earthquake occurred, absorbing this evidence of the tragedy.

Nature is fraught with many dangers. Unfortunately, we sometimes underestimate these dangers. And such neglect leads to tragedies. There are places in nature where it is extremely dangerous to be. To such hazardous areas include quicksand.

What are they? This is a sandy surface characterized by increased mobility. Any object or living creature caught in quicksand can be pulled inside. The tightening speed is uneven: this can happen either in a matter of minutes or in long months. U different nations there are legends and myths associated with quicksand. The tricky thing about quicksand is that outwardly it seems quite safe. There are many legends about quicksand in English folklore, as there are many such dangerous areas.

This is not to say that people have not tried to deal with quicksand. In the 19th century in England, quicksand was carefully destroyed by filling it with stones, sand and rubble. Therefore, now there is practically no danger of meeting them in places where people live. However, in some places, quicksand still awaits its victims. Surprisingly, there is no clear explanation for this phenomenon yet.

There are different hypotheses, certainly interesting. Russian physicist V. Frolov believes that the phenomenon of quicksand is based on electrical effects, due to which friction between grains of sand decreases and the sand becomes viscous and fluid. Viscosity can spread to a depth of several meters, the soil becomes unstable and sucks in any object or living creature. There is an assumption that main reason The fact that sand attracts various objects into itself is hidden in the form of individual grains of sand. All of them are of the correct spherical shape. This is why any heavy object sinks so easily when passing “through” them.

American scientist J. Clark for a long time studied the phenomenon of quicksand. He believes that these sands were mixed with water, so they acquired the properties of a liquid medium. Clark suggests that quicksand is a special state of sand. It may appear in different places, if there is exposure to water. For example, if the surface is regularly flooded with water during high tide, or if there is an underground river under the surface.

In England, near Morecambe Bay, there is a place called Arnside. There are regular tides there. At low tide, the water recedes several kilometers, revealing the bottom of the bay. If you step on the sand, which seems very stable, you can immediately find yourself pulled down. It is impossible to save yourself, so many die.

A very beautiful place, Tarnagen Fjord in Alaska, is also dangerous. It is also not recommended to be there during low tide. Many people know about an island called Sable. It is located in the Atlantic Ocean 180 kilometers from the coast. There are many reefs in its vicinity, which often cause shipwrecks. The remains of the broken ships on the shore are covered with sand.

There are a lot of quicksands not only in Alaska, but also in the Sahara. It is known that in the desert entire caravans can disappear into the sand. Scientists have discovered that there is an underground river beneath the Sahara, which may be why the surface becomes so treacherous.

Quicksand is dangerous not only for an individual person or animal. An entire city could go underground. This is exactly what happened in 1692. An entire area of the city of Port Royale was caught in the quicksand. The city was located on a sandy surface, which is why the tragedy happened. On June 7, 1692, an earthquake occurred. Historical chronicles tell how some residents of the city immediately fell into the ground, others were sucked in up to their knees or waist. The earthquake lasted several minutes. Then the sand immediately turned into a solid mass that held people captive. Many died. In the 19th century, on the site of the lost city, the remains of the walls of collapsed houses were still visible, and in 1907, after another earthquake, everything went underground.

Quicksand

Quicksand found in different areas globe, have always caused fear in people. It is generally accepted that this sand, which looks no different from the usual sand nearby, is fraught with a mortal danger for anyone who stands on it. There are many stories about how these sands sucked in their victims until there was no trace left of them. However, in reality, quicksand does not have such power. If you have an idea of what it is and how to behave correctly, then quicksand will not cause any harm.

Typically, quicksand, or quicksand, appears near the mouths of large rivers and on gently sloping banks. These sands are formed due to the fact that underneath there is a dense layer of clay that does not allow moisture to penetrate into the earth. This leads to the accumulation of rain and river water in the sand. The accumulating water liquefies the round grains of quicksand, and they seem to float in it. That is why they are not able to hold heavy objects on the surface.

Contrary to popular belief, people who fall on quicksand do not drown in it. Since quicksand contains a lot of moisture, you can swim in it like in water. It is also important that quicksand is denser than water, and therefore it is easier to float on the surface.

If you ever find yourself in quicksand, remember to move fairly slowly. This allows the sand to flow around your body, just as it does when you swim in water. In this case, you do not have to fear for your life.

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Without a doubt, quicksand is one of the most dangerous places on Earth. Usually the sun dries out the top layer of sand, resulting in a thin, hard crust on which grass can even grow. But the illusion of reliability will instantly evaporate, as soon as you step on it, the ground will literally float from under your feet. The poor souls who step on this sand, which seems like solid ground, are instantly sucked in. The legs become squeezed by a hardened mass, and it is impossible to pull them out without outside help.

Quicksand itself cannot kill a person. Firstly, it will not be able to completely absorb a person, since it is a non-Newtonian liquid. However, if a person is not saved in time, he may die from a number of other reasons. For example, from dehydration, solar radiation, various living creatures, or dying under the tide.

Many theories have been proposed about the quicksand phenomenon. Most of them, of course, turned out to be wrong. However, over time the situation began to become clearer. It turned out that the properties of wet sand depend significantly on the amount of water it contains. Moistened grains of sand easily stick together, demonstrating a sharp increase in adhesion forces, which in dry sand are caused only by surface unevenness and are therefore very small. The forces of surface tension of the films of water surrounding each grain of sand cause them to stick together. In order for sand grains to stick together well, water must cover the particles and their groups thin film, while most of the space between them should remain filled with air. If the amount of water in the sand is increased, then as soon as the entire space between the sand grains is filled with water, the surface tension forces disappear and the result is a mixture of sand and water that has completely different properties. Thus, Quicksand is the most ordinary sand, under the thickness of which at a depth of several meters there is a fairly strong source of water.

Why does a person fall into quicksand? It's all about the special structure of the grains of sand. The flow of water coming from below whips up a loose cushion of grains of sand, which is in relative equilibrium for some time. The weight of a traveler who wanders into such a place collapses the structure. The grains of sand, being redistributed, move along with the body of the victim, additionally as if sucking the poor fellow into the soil layer. After this, the structure of the sand around the unfortunate person becomes completely different - tightly pressed wet grains of sand form a trap due to the force of the surface tension of the water layer. When you try to pull your leg out, a vacuum of air is formed, pulling the leg back with enormous force. To pull your leg out in such a situation at a speed of 0.1 m/s, you need to apply a force equal to the force of lifting a medium-sized passenger car. So, if you get into quicksand, it is better not to make sudden movements, but try to lie on your back and, with your arms outstretched, wait for help.