White Sands National Monument
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- White Sands National Monument
Alamogordo, New Mexico
White Sands National Monument is a unique gypsum sand dunes system that has much to offer in adventure. There are scenic drives, hiking, back country camping, sledding on the sands, bicycling and photography. Continue reading for further great information on White Sands National Monument.
Uniqueness
White Sands National Monument is located in southern New Mexico at the northern end of the Chihuahuan Desert. This is North America’s largest desert, the majority of which is located to our south in Mexico. This desert region amounts to about 175,000 square miles, stretching some 1200 miles south from Alamogordo, New Mexico, to the Mexican state of San Luis Potosi.
Rising from the heart of the Tularosa Basin is one of the world’s great natural wonders – the glistening white sands of New Mexico. Here, great wave-like dunes of gypsum sand have engulfed 275 square miles of desert and created the world’s largest gypsum dune field. White Sands National Monument preserves a major portion of this unique dune field, along with the plants and animals that have successfully adapted to this constantly changing environment.
The brilliant white dunes are ever changing: growing, cresting, then slumping, but always advancing. Slowly but relentlessly the sand, driven by strong southwest winds, covers everything in its path. Within the extremely harsh environment of the dune field, even plants and animals adapted to desert conditions struggle to survive. There are only a few species of plants that grow rapidly enough to survive burial by moving dunes, but several types of small animals have evolved a white coloration that camouflages them in the gypsum sand.
Not all sand dunes are alike. Dunes may take many forms, depending on the amount of sand available, the strength and direction of prevailing winds, and the type of vegetation in the area. Four types of dunes can be found in the white sands dune field.
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