White Sands National Monument landscape · Landscape in White Sands National Monument
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Landscape in White Sands National Monument
Landscape in White Sands National Monument
The obvious natural feature of this monument is the pure gypsum dunes, but perhaps less obvious are the sources of the dunes, Lake Lucero and Alkali Flat. These two areas are the result of the gradual drying of an extensive Pleistocene lake that was rich in the mineral gypsum, with the dunes being the result of weathering and wind transport of these exposed surfaces.
The translucent golden-yellow crystals of selenite (gypsum) grow in saturated mud beneath the lake's remains. When exposed on the surface, these crystals are subject to weathering and erosion and may eventually become gypsum powder and sand grains, which can be carried by winds as dust or sand storms to become the white sands of White Sands National Monument.
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White Sands National Monument Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.