White Sands, New Mexico
Steven Dutch, Professor Emeritus, Natural and Applied Sciences, Universityof Wisconsin - Green Bay
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Approaching White Sands from Alomogordo. |
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This has to be one of the most user-friendly national monuments. They'll even rent plastic sleds to slide down the dunes. Seriously, what can you do to a sand dune? |
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The sand is gypsum blown off a playa lake to the west. At only 2 on the Mohs hardness scale, it's soft and non-abrasive. |
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Ripple marks |
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One of my students, an Army Reservist, used to compete in rucksack races across the dunes. |
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Wind erosion eventually exposes plant roots. |
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Eerily reminiscent of winter in Wisconsin. |
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The dunes end very abruptly. There is no gypsum sand along the highway at all. |
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Created 7 April 2003, Last Update 06 June 2020