Shadow on the sands
* The final image I have of the amazing landscape at White Sands in New Mexico . When I visited in 2016 it was a national monument I gather its been elevated now to the status of a National Park . It certainly is a most unusual place I have not seen anything like it anywhere else.
The White Sands National Park is located about 16 miles southwest of Alamogordo in western Otero County and northeastern Doña Ana County in the state of New Mexico, at an elevation of 4,235 feet . The area is in the mountain-ringed Tularosa Basin and comprises the southern part of a 275 square miles field of white sand dunes composed of gypsum crystals. It is the largest gypsum dune field in the world.
Gypsum is rarely found in the form of sand because it is water-soluble. Normally, rain would dissolve the gypsum and carry it to the sea. The Tularosa Basin is enclosed; meaning that it has no outlet to the sea and that rain that dissolves gypsum from the surrounding San Andres and Sacramento Mountains is trapped within the basin. Thus water either sinks into the ground or forms shallow pools, which subsequently dry out and leave gypsum in a crystalline form, called selenite, on the surface.
Various forms of dunes are found within the limits of White Sands. Dome dunes are found along the southwest margins of the field, transverse and barchan in the core of the field, and parabolic dunes occur in high numbers along the northern, southern, and northeastern margins.
THANKS FOR YOUR VISITING BUT CAN I ASK YOU NOT TO FAVE AN IMAGE WITHOUT ALSO MAKING A COMMENT. MANY THANKS KEITH. ANYONE MAKING MULTIPLE FAVES WITHOUT COMMENTS WILL SIMPLY BE BLOCKED
Shadow on the sands
* The final image I have of the amazing landscape at White Sands in New Mexico . When I visited in 2016 it was a national monument I gather its been elevated now to the status of a National Park . It certainly is a most unusual place I have not seen anything like it anywhere else.
The White Sands National Park is located about 16 miles southwest of Alamogordo in western Otero County and northeastern Doña Ana County in the state of New Mexico, at an elevation of 4,235 feet . The area is in the mountain-ringed Tularosa Basin and comprises the southern part of a 275 square miles field of white sand dunes composed of gypsum crystals. It is the largest gypsum dune field in the world.
Gypsum is rarely found in the form of sand because it is water-soluble. Normally, rain would dissolve the gypsum and carry it to the sea. The Tularosa Basin is enclosed; meaning that it has no outlet to the sea and that rain that dissolves gypsum from the surrounding San Andres and Sacramento Mountains is trapped within the basin. Thus water either sinks into the ground or forms shallow pools, which subsequently dry out and leave gypsum in a crystalline form, called selenite, on the surface.
Various forms of dunes are found within the limits of White Sands. Dome dunes are found along the southwest margins of the field, transverse and barchan in the core of the field, and parabolic dunes occur in high numbers along the northern, southern, and northeastern margins.
THANKS FOR YOUR VISITING BUT CAN I ASK YOU NOT TO FAVE AN IMAGE WITHOUT ALSO MAKING A COMMENT. MANY THANKS KEITH. ANYONE MAKING MULTIPLE FAVES WITHOUT COMMENTS WILL SIMPLY BE BLOCKED