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The Tularosa Basin in the northern Chihuahuan Desert is a mountain-ringed
valley encompassing one of the world's great natural wonders -- the glistening
white sands of New Mexico. Here, giant, wave-like dunes of gypsum sand move
across 275 square miles of desert creating the world's largest gypsum dune
field. 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. Only a few species of plants 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. White Sands National Monument preserves a major portion of this gypsum
dune field, along with the plants and animals that have successfully adapted
to this constantly changing environment.
At the northern end of the Chihuahuan Desert lies a mountain ringed valley called the Tularosa Basin. Rising from the heart of this 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 have created the world's largest gypsum dune field. 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. Only a few species of plants 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.
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