Travel Destination :: White Sands - a photo on Flickriver

Travel Destination :: White Sands

Travel Destination :: White Sands National Monument

Idyllic, Awe-Inspiring, Breathtaking, Speechless, Silence, Mind-Boggling, Overwhelming, Wondrous - all appropriate words for The white sand dunes of Southern New Mexico.

Rising unexpectedly out of the otherwise drab brown Chihuahuan Desert, the white dunes are the largest of their kind anywhere in the world. Yes, White Sands National Monument is huge. The gypsum sand dunes derive from Lake Lucero near the base of the Organ Mountains. Rainfall drains from the mountains into the lake. When the water evaporates the gypsum forms, dries, then blows to create the dunes.

Constant winds blow off the Organs shift the sands day to day so the dunes are ever changing. You'll never find two the same nor will the sand dunes ever stay the same.

The sand at White Sands National Monument is almost pure gypsum. Gypsum is different from many other rocks because it is readily soluble. That means it will dissolve in water, just like sugar or salt. When rain falls on the mountains, the layers of gypsum start to dissolve, and the gypsum runs down the mountains as fast as the water can carry it. You may wonder why there aren't gypsum sand dunes on the other sides of the mountains. The rain certainly washes gypsum down there too. Why is it only in the Tularosa Basin that the gypsum forms sand dunes?

The Tularosa basin has no rivers running out of it. There is no way for water entering it to get out.

bit.ly/2vcL7Qr

Taken in: United States / New Mexico / Holloman Air Force Base (show map)

Taken on: January 22, 2011

Tags:

CHIHUAHUAN DESERT

DESERT

DESERT SAND DUNES

DESERT SCENE

DESERT SOUTHWEST

WHITE SAND DUNES

WHITE SANDS

WHITE SANDS NATIONAL MONUMENT

aerial

sand dunes

white « less

Sets appears in: • WHITE SANDS NATIONAL PARK • DESERT LANDSCAPE BEAUTY

Groups appears in: • Flickr Nature • #3/...flickrjob's third more » • Abstract Reality • Nature as Abstract Artist « less

Stats: 3,093 views / 16 comments

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