01 February 2010

White Sands National Monument is a U.S. National Monument that is in the southeastern region of the state of New Mexico. The monument contains the world's largest gypsum sand dune field -- 275 square miles of fine white sand, formed by the prevailing winds into large ridge-like dunes.

White Sands became a national monument on January 18, 1933 by order of President Herbert Hoover. Efforts to preserve the area's brilliant gypsum dunes had begun in the late 1800's, but it was the enthusiasm of local booster Tom Charles that finally led to the park's creation. In his words: "Gypsum may be divided into two classes - commercial and inspirational. The former everybody has, but as for recreational gypsum, we have it all. No place else in the world do you find these alabaster dunes with the beauty and splendor of the Great White Sands.”

The park's creation coincided with the Great Depression, which was in some ways fortuitous due to the Roosevelt administration's focus on public works. WPA funds were used to improve many park areas and White Sands benefited by achieving a full measure of development within just a few years of opening. In its first year the park attracted 12,000 people, and today as many as 600,000 people visit the park annually.

The obvious natural feature of this monument is the pure gypsum dunes, but perhaps less obvious are the sources of the dunes, Lake Lucero and Alkali Flat. These two areas are the result of the gradual drying of an extensive Pleistocene lake that was rich in the mineral gypsum, with the dunes being the result of weathering and wind transport of these exposed surfaces.

 The translucent golden-yellow crystals of selenite (gypsum) grow in saturated mud beneath the lake's remains. When exposed on the surface, these crystals are subject to weathering and erosion and may eventually become gypsum powder and sand grains, which can be carried by winds as dust or sand storms to become the white sands of White Sands National Monument. Wiki