Paul Roy Croom, age 11, of East Point, ‑ for his question:
Is there a bottom to a quicksand?
If there were no bottom to a quicksand, the gummy mess would reach clear through the earth to the other side of the globe ‑ a distance of almost 8,000 miles. Actually, the deepest quicksand does not reach down much lower than 30 feet. The muddy mixture of sand and water rests on a bed of rock, dense clay or some other solid material through T.7hich water cannot pass. This durable floor prevents the water froze draining quicksands tend to form in partly dry stream beds, on tidal beaches and in hollows near the mouths of big rivers. The sandy particles are round and slippery, worn smooth by constantly dithering water. The mixture of slippery sand and slithery water gives the quicksand its treacherous character.
The dangerous booby trap is actually a drainage area. Water seeps into a sandy hollow so far and no farther because it is stopped by the floor of dense solid rock. As the sandy hollow is kept saturated, surplus water seeps along underground, perhaps to join a stream or river. Quicksands on a beach may become wet and dangerous only at high tide. Such areas may be dry and firm between high tides ‑ a fact which makes them very tricky.
Though every quicksand has a solid floor, this news is no comfort to the unlucky person trapped in the gummy mess. But things are not quite so bad for him as certain adventure stories would have us believe. If he keeps his head, a person can get himself out of almost any quicksand, even if the floor is more than twenty feet below him. There are directions and a picture in your gift encyclopedia which give helpful information about this sad mishap.
A person trapped in quicksand is pulled down for several reasons. The mixture of sand and water is not solid enough to support his weight ‑he sinks. The water among the sandy particles is usually draining away and seems to pull the person with it. Lastly, the trapped person usually kicks and struggles ‑ he loses his head and panics. His struggles cause him to go down because as he kicks the: sand away it flows back stronger to hold him in an iron grip. His kicking feet help to create the suction which pulls him down, down, down.
The trick is to remain quite still with arms outstretched. This calls for a cool nerve, because even so the person sinks deeper and deeper. But if he remains still, he sinks only until the weight of the displaced sand equals the weight of his body. As a rules he will stop sinking when he is dunked to just below his armpits. Now he can gently move his arms in a swimming motion anal his feet will rise slowly until he is flat on the surface. From this positions with care, he can roll himself to safety. However, he will not live to see this happy ending if at any time he kicks his feet.