Quicksand is a bed of very fine, powdery, wet sand. It may look solid, but it is like a thick fluid. It will not support anything heavy. Men, animals, trains, or automobiles can be swallowed up if they move onto quicksand.
Under quicksand there is usually a layer of clay. The clay keeps the water from draining away from the sand. Quicksand is often found at the mouths of rivers where fine sand has been deposited on clay. It can also be found around lakes or ponds if a hollow pocket in a clay shore holds it and keeps it wet.
Quicksand is very treacherous. There are many tales of men sinking into quicksand. A man need not be swallowed up, however. If he remains calm and still and takes special care not to move his feet, he will stop sinking when he is in quicksand up to his armpits. His weight then will balance the weight of displaced sand.
