The microscopic plates lock together very convincingly when the water leaves the mud. Digging a hole nearby only speeds the process. A trash pump pumping water in does far more good than a hole.
It is strange stuff. It feels solid underfoot when walking across. Stop and stomp your feet and rock back and forth a bit and water moves into the agitated mud which softens it. That is when you sink.
Just like ketchup in the bottle which pours freely only after being agitated. (Thixotropism)
Sitka deer;
Good afternoon to you sir, I trust you and your fine family are well up in your section of Alaska.
Holy smoke that sounds absolutely frightening.
With the understanding that for most of my life I've maintained I'd rather be on a rough horse than a smooth boat, now I have yet another reason to distrust things on or near water.
I do love to fish and find being beside the ocean calming, but it has my respect and then some.
If you or anyone is ever in the area of the Skookumchuck Narrows on the BC coast, it's really something seeing the tide come in and out there. We watched a big twin outboard boat working hard to make progress against it.
Anyways thanks for the science lesson once more, I learned something today - even if it is unsettling.
All the best to you all.
Dwayne
