Deserted of white Sand of the New Mexico, in the west of the the United States.

Located in the basin of Tularosa, surrounded by mountain, the basin of White Sand shelters the largest desert of Gypse of the world. The sand pushed by the wind forms brilliant Dune S, particularly appreciated photographers.

Card-index identity

• Localization: New Mexico, in the north of the Deserted of Chihuahua
• Altitude of the basin: 1200 meters
• Surface: 715 km ² are half of dune surfaces
• Précipitations in Socorro: 230 mm/year; 15 cm of snow the winter
• the lowest Temperature recorded: -32°C
• Strong wind from February to March
• Vegetation: Acacia S, creosote bushes, armoise, mesquites, Yucca S, Sisal plant S and cactus - barril
• Fauna: Hare S (jack-rabbit), rabbits (cottontail), Fox S, Coyote S, Deer S, roadrunner S, buzzard-turkey ( turkey-vulture ), Rattlesnake ( rattlesnake ) and the Tarantula

Geology

The gypsum which forms the desert of White Sands was deposited at the bottom of a not very deep lagoon which covered this surface 250 million years ago. With the formation of the Rocky Mountains, the gypsum deposits were elevated in a dome which subsided to form the Bassin of Tularosa. The slopes of the dome of origin form now the assembly lines of San Andres (Mont Salinas, 2700 meters) and of Sacramento (more than 3600 meters of altitude, ski station) which surround the basin.

Common sand not very

Ordinary mineral gypsum, (CaSO4•2H2O), is not in general in the sand shape for the reason which it is water soluble. The rain and the snow which fall on the surrounding mountains dissolve the gypsum, separate it and deposit it in the Basin of Tularosa. This basin thus forms a kind of trap for water like for the gypsum and other sediments which they contain.

The Lake Lucero

It is in a endoreic area : precipitations stream in the basin without finding of outlet to the sea or the ocean. They form sometimes a lake: when this water evaporates, the dissolved gypsum settles on the surface (Sélénium). The greatest quantities of gypsum were deposited for the glacial period when a lake of greater proportion, the Lac Otero, recovered the major part of the basin. The natural elements (dryness, freezing, rains) erode the deposits and transform them into small particles which the wind carries: such is the origin of the white gypsum dunes.

• Four types of dunes sand white:
• Dunes in domes
• Dunes in the shape of crescent
• transverse Dunes
• parabolic Dunes

Plants and animals

• the natural constraints are very strong: advanced sand (up to 6 meters per annum), aridity… the yuccas adapted well: they lengthen their trunk in order to always remain above the dune (growth of 30 cm per annum). Certain bushes produce a stock which raises them to leave sand ( skunkbush ).
• As in other deserts, most of the animals leave to fallen the night. The morning one can see the prints of the rodents, rabbits, foxes, coyotes, pig-épics and other animals night. The lizards, the beetles and the birds are active during the day and one can observe them in various places. Some species of animals use the white camouflage in the dunes (lizards, insects).

Army grounds of White Sands

They are around the National Monument of White Sands since the Second world war. It is here that one tests the new armaments (first atomic bomb in Alamogordo) and space new technologies: landing strip of the space shuttle. The roads near White Sands can be closed with the public during the experiments, for safety reasons.

The Launching base of White Sands was a processing site of the technology of the V2 after the end of the world war, with shootings of tests of this Missile. In addition, the rockets Bumper , made up of a V2 modified surmounted of a rocket WAC Corporal , were useful for technological tests and the study of the upper atmosphere.

Random links:

Arie | Many Stirling | Stamps of France 2003 | Bulb-grower | Monochamus sutor