White Sands New Mexico

[fgrsk8r1970]

This is one of the spots here in the South West that still is very mystical to me, because out of the blue (or beige) there is this large area of white sand dunes.
Rising from the heart of the Tularosa Basin is one of the world's great natural wonders - the glistening white sands of New Mexico. Great wave-like dunes of gypsum sand have engulfed 275 square miles of desert, creating the world's largest gypsum dunefield. White Sands National Monument preserves a major portion of this unique dune field, along with the plants and animals that live here.

I visited the last time with my parents in 2005 and even though this was my 3rd time I can't get over how beautiful the sand looks - like snow - and the unique plants and animals that survive there.

I didn't have as nice of a camera as I have now which tells me that I just have to go back sometime soon and take new photos with my NIKON

















Its white sands are not composed of quartz, like most desert sands, but of gypsum and calcium sulfate. Unlike other desert sands, it is cool to the touch, due to the high rate of evaporation of surface moisture and the fact that the sands reflect, rather than absorb, the sun's rays. At 1185 meters above sea level, there are approximately 442 total square kilometers of dune fields and is known to be the world's largest surface deposit of gypsum.

The one interesting thing to note is:
Only 40% of White Sands are protected as National Monument. The remainder of the Sands is military land.
The Monument is entirely surrounded by the White Sands Missile Range, formerly called White Sands Proving Grounds.
White Sands Missile Range covers 3,200 square miles northeast of Las Cruces.

So when you visit the Park you have to go through a military checkpoint. at least we did in 2005....

[bixaorellana]

Fascinating, Skater, & you really captured the beauty and subtlety of all that sand and sky. The glimpses of mountains in the background in some of the pictures add to the awe inspired by the terrain.

Is it known where all that sand came from?

[Deleted]

Beautiful beach with no ocean! One really has to admire the vegetation that manages to grow in such a place.

[fgrsk8r1970]

Thank you Bixa - I'll have to do some research on that. I think it's a natural occurrence but unusual to be in one place and this size.

Thank you Kerouac - I always feel like I am in the snow LOL, some kids actually take sleds and go down the side of the mountains. The vegetation is amazing, they have a lot of background on that as well and I wish I could have taken a picture of the little lizards that live there, they adapted as well and are just as white!
I will have to go again sometime (hubby has never been) and really focus on photographing it the way I take pictures now

[nycgirl]

Wow, that is so beautiful! I particularly love the fourth photo, with the two tiny figures surrounded by the white, otherworldly landscape.

That reminds me, this summer I'm working as an assistant teacher at a science camp and one of the head teachers asked us all to collect samples of sand wherever we can. She wants to show the kids under the microscope how sand is composed of crushed up rocks and shells and how it looks different from place to place. I already gathered sand from Florida and I hope to get some from New York and Virginia before camp starts. I wish it were possible for me to get some from this place, too. It would be really neat to observe under the microscope how this sand contrasts with other sand. Sigh, if only.

[anshjain97]

Wow- how stunning! The reflection is really dazzling- did you (have to) wear sunglasses? It is really like snow- I have not able to see without sunglasses the few times I've been on snow.

[fgrsk8r1970]

Thanks NYCgirl - that sounds very neat your assistant teaching job at this science camp. Unfortunately it is prohibited to take any sand from this NM (not that people don't do it and you certainly would have enough in your shoes to use for the microscope LOL). Going to Hermosa Beach on Sunday - wish I could get you some sand from there LOL....
But then maybe the Sand here in Phoenix when we have a big Haboob might be of interest as well, especially since there might be Valley Fever spores in it

Can I join the camp??? LOL j/k

[nycgirl]

Ah, it makes sense that you can't take sand from a protected National Monument. But, as you say, if I were to take the sand from my shoes and bottle it in a vial, that should be ok.

[bixaorellana]

May 24, 2013 13:24:41 GMT fgrsk8r1970 said:

But then maybe the Sand here in Phoenix when we have a big Haboob might be of interest as well, especially since there might be Valley Fever spores in it

Eh???

[mossie]

The haboob is an Arabic word for a dust storm. Phoenix seems to make a speciality of them. See here phoenix.about.com/od/arizonamonsoon/qt/haboob.htm

In Egypt they are called khamsins, from the Arabic khamsa= fifty, and supposedly occur during a 50 day period in spring. I well remember flying across the desert and seeing a cliff, which hadn't been there the day before . In addition it appeared to be boiling . We quickly got back to base before it hit us. ;D ;D

[fgrsk8r1970]

Thanks mossie for jumping in - we are in CA right now for my dads last week and it's been crazy busy with the travel and Holiday weekend here in the US so I haven't been able to post much-and now I am back to work (remotely).
We've been getting more and more haboobs here in the Valley of the Sun and some of them are just crazy. I have some photos I have to find when I am back in AZ to post. But the link mossie posted will give you an idea.

[Deleted]

In North Africa (Maghreb side) it is the Sirocco that can wreak havoc. It is the violent Saharan wind that can blow sand across the Mediterranean all the way to Europe. Since I moved to Paris 40 years ago, we have awakened twice to a thin layer of fine sand covering the city, most visibly on the parked cars.