Thanks,
James Schannep

Picture that you are on a dirt trail in a bog,and much like quicksand,the top of a sinkhole looks like normal solid ground(some are commonly noticeable).You then walk upon some ground,and suddenly you are submersed up to the groins.Unlike quicksand,a sinkhole will suck an object down almost instantaneously(depending on how solid the ground is. i.e if the ground looks solid,but in fact is water blended into the ground). Of course there are the instances where you can step on the ground without sinking,but with enough effort…you will…almost like playing in the mud.The big difference here is that in a marsh,the chances are solid ground vs soft is greatly overwhelmed do to a mass amount of water..Getting out is just as hard as quicksand and can be much more difficult considering that muck is much heavier than sand.If you don`t have anyone near by and are in a pool of muck.chances are you are screwed(unless the pool is made of up of more water than minerals). During the winter,traveling on a marsh is a brainless endeavour within itself. Although during the spring,summer,and fall seasons,it is safest to walk upon the spongy grass.

For example: Once upon a time while playing upon a marsh.A friend and I were traversing the marsh,during winter by the way.Although we knew the the dangers of a marsh,being kids we had a confidence of being impervious to such dangers.While running around on ice and snow,I so happened to walk upon a soft spot and all of a sudden I lost my footing. Within a second, my right leg was completely submersed in cold,thick muck. It just so happened that my left leg was on solid ground…so I fell to the side leaving myself halfway between safety and almost certain death.Lucky me,my friend was there to reach a hand and helped to pull out my leg. Of course I lost my boot and sock,but was relieved to be free from the clutches of the muck.

One of the phenomena accompanying this liquefaction is geysers of sand blowing upward as the surrounding sand settles, much like the graphic of an apple disappearing into the sand accompanying this article.

“Disappearing caravans” are possible under these conditions, I’d think. Dry quicksand would require an outflow of gas, such as methane (natural gas) to unsettle the sand particles enough to behave as a liquid – not just air. I can think of a condition or two where a large seismic event wouldn’t even be necessary – just a breach of a methane pocket.

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The most recent was on a hike to the Keet Seel pueblo ruins in the Navajo National Monument in northern Arizona. The ruins are reputed to be the best preserved anywhere, probably because the site can only be accessed after a strenuous eight mile hike, most of which is along a sandy stream bed. The guides warn all visitors of the quicksand, which most often forms on the downstream side of boulders, since the surface water flows around the boulder but the subsurface water is pulled upwards and suspends the sand. The quicksand forms at other spots as well, particularly near the edge of the stream on the inside arcs, and we learned to anticipate it after a while. For the most part, the quicksand is no more than calf or knee deep, and is really just an annoyance.

In regards to dry quicksand, I remember my father telling me about a death at his chemical plant that often gave me nightmares as a child. An operator was filling a boxcar full of a very fine chemical powder, which my father likened to microbeads used for fiberglass repair. The powder was blown in through a large flexible hose, somewhat like an air conditioning duct. The boxcar was mostly full when the operator somehow fell in and sank to the bottom as if he were falling through air. The man apparently suffocated quickly, and was quite dead when they were finally able to fish him out.