The researchers measured the depth by attaching a vertical tail –almost without mass- to the ping pong ball. Natural organisms in wetlands have adapted and evolved to survive and. Furthermore, if you spot weird-looking floras, insects, and other wildlife, you’re probably in a wetland. Without any effort, it moves through the sand. Quicksand is typically spread across a small, demarcated piece of land, while wetlands stretch over vast distances, such as the Atchafalaya Basin swamp in Louisiana. After the rope is burnt, the ball falls into the sand in one movement. The ball was filled with tiny bronze balls to be able to vary the weight. Touching the surface of the sand, the researcher hung a four centimetre pingpong ball on a thin rope. When the stream of air is closed off, the grains move down to form a very loose packing (just 41 vol percent). The bottom of the container has holes in it, through which air is blown.
To create dry quicksand, the scientist filled a container with very fine grain sand (grains of about 0,04 millimetres). In other words: it is possible to influence the 'support capabilities' of sand. The well known quicksand is a mixture with force chains that are substantially weaker. Sand is usually able to support weight relying on internal force chains. It occurs on every continent outside of Antarctica, and all it requires to form is some clay, water and sand. Lohse and his researchers Remco Rauhé, Raymond Bergmann and Deveraj van der Meer created something they call ‘dry quicksand’. It’s true: Just because you don’t think you pass a quicksand pit on your way to work doesn’t mean that it’s not there.
Image: Six snapshots from a high speed image recording: The snapshots correspond to (a) ball release, (b) sinking, (c) disappearing, (d) void collapse, (e) jet, and (f) granular eruption.