Quicksand Fans

I was wondering

Quicksand/mud would come on many different kinds of soil and organic matter mixture. Some thin, some thick, some medium.

If you sank into quicksand that had such a sucking-like grip (not pull down, just hold at a depth) that you could not get out without help or leverage, and if struggling like pulling up one leg causes the other and your body to go deeper, could you pull yourself completely under and the sucking-like grip will not let you rise no matter that you are supposed to float? I guess eventually your body would slowly gradjually rise but far too late to be rescued.

Is this possible if it is the "wrong stuff" type of thickness?

I was also wondering. if quicksand could swalow victims, would they be mummified for centuries or would they decompose and disintergrate? I have seen some reference to some kind of substance forming on human flesh under water that prevents decomposing. Quicksand has some water in it or it wouldn't be quick. If all that was left was bones they would petrify into stone.

i dont assume there definitly is an answer to any of this, but if anyone happened to know or experience a kind of quicksand that would act like it is sucking on a body (not pulling it down, just holding it at depth and not letting it go up).

Fortunately not. The density of such mud that is able to suck your body so hard that you really cannot get out will be so much greater than the density of your body that the buoyancy force will be much stronger than the suction. The only way to drown completely in such mud is if you somehow push yourself down with force.

This has been discussed here many times. Every time someone cites physics and says it's virtually impossible to sink, which it is, but it's not as impossible to get yourself in a very bad situation as you might think. I'll avoid my usual lengthy ramble and citing of specific incidents and say that I've had several occasions, personally and professionally, that narrowly avoided catastrophe. Don't ever bet your safety just on words.

I'm with Duncan here.

But first you should define what substance you're really talking about. Quicksand is a mixture of sand and water that only becomes "quick" when water pushes the sand-particles apart. When you struggle, the water gets gone, settles and can become just like concrete, trapping you firmly in place. It's hard to believe, that anyone can sink to his doom in stuff like this (yes, i know, that there are stories of the rare occasion that this "may" have really happened)

I'm a regular sinker in countless peatbogs, clayish mud and also tidal mudflats but i've never encountered real(!) quicksand so far.
I have sunk in mixtures of thick lakebed/peaty mud that behaves just like you describe. My favorite sinking-area looks like a forest, but is a peatbog on top of a former lake. There is a chaotic mix of layers and patches of softer and firmer/thicker mud. By pumping your legs you break through the different layers and sink in the soft stuff, while the thicker mud clings to you and keeps you down.
I've had a number of unexpected total sinks that have been quite dangerous in hindsight and i've only managed by experience and maybe some luck from time to time. You may have a look in my thread over at the "photo"-section. There i do post some of my outings from time to time.

bogbud wrote:I'm with Duncan here.

... a chaotic mix of layers and patches of softer and firmer/thicker mud. By pumping your legs you break through the different layers and sink in the soft stuff, while the thicker mud clings to you and keeps you down.
I've had a number of unexpected total sinks that have been quite dangerous in hindsight and i've only managed by experience and maybe some luck from time to time. ...

Nailed it. Exactly what I was trying to say.

Duncan Edwards wrote:

bogbud wrote:I'm with Duncan here.

... a chaotic mix of layers and patches of softer and firmer/thicker mud. By pumping your legs you break through the different layers and sink in the soft stuff, while the thicker mud clings to you and keeps you down.
I've had a number of unexpected total sinks that have been quite dangerous in hindsight and i've only managed by experience and maybe some luck from time to time. ...

That sounds like a lot of fun

the real question is, can we build a quicksand like this ? ^^

maybe some oobleck under ultra thick peat ^^

Slugjaba1922 wrote:

Duncan Edwards wrote:

bogbud wrote:I'm with Duncan here.

... a chaotic mix of layers and patches of softer and firmer/thicker mud. By pumping your legs you break through the different layers and sink in the soft stuff, while the thicker mud clings to you and keeps you down.
I've had a number of unexpected total sinks that have been quite dangerous in hindsight and i've only managed by experience and maybe some luck from time to time. ...

That sounds like a lot of fun

Of course it is.
That area is not for the faint hearted or the inexperienced, though.

I'm very thankful having that place.

thyladras02 wrote:the real question is, can we build a quicksand like this ? ^^

maybe some oobleck under ultra thick peat ^^

Might sink once but it would turn into great concrete very quickly with that combination.

Duncan Edwards wrote:

thyladras02 wrote:the real question is, can we build a quicksand like this ? ^^

maybe some oobleck under ultra thick peat ^^

Might sink once but it would turn into great concrete very quickly with that combination.

how has the oobleck pit evolved over time? is it complicated to maintain ?