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On this page about White Sands National Monument:

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• 1933 establishments (29)
• Dunes (17)
• IUCN Category III (59)
• National Monuments in New Mexico (9)
• Otero County, New Mexico (17)

Encyclopedia: White Sands National Monument

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. Since the Tularosa Basin has no outlet to the sea, rain that dissolves gypsum from the surrounding San Andres and Sacramento Mountains is trapped within the basin and either sinks into the ground or forms shallow pools that subsequently dry out and leave gypsum in a crystalline form called selenite on the surface. During the last ice age a lake called Lake Otero covered much of the basin. When it dried out it left a large flat area of selenite crystals which is now the Alkali Flat. Lake Lucero, at the south-west corner of the park, is a dry lake bed at one of the lowest points of the basin that occasionally fills with water.

Translations

How to say "White Sands National Monument" in other languages:

	(German)	White Sands National Monument
	(French)	White Sands

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Carrizoso Malpais

Malpais. The flow is black in color; those who are heading south will then also view the White Sands National Monument. The large Mescalero Apache Reservation, in the forested Sacramento Mountains is east of the Malpais. This forested area (the Lincoln National Forest) also contains Sierra Blanca, a...

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International Space Hall of Fame

The International Space Hall of Fame (aka the New Mexico Museum of Space History) sits on the western face of the Sacramento Mountain range of New Mexico. The building overlooks Alamogordo, New Mexico, the White Sands National Monument, Holloman Air Force Base, the White Sands Missile Range, and...

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National Solar Observatory

The National Solar Observatory in Sunspot, New Mexico, is located on the rim of the forested Sacramento mountains overlooking the White Sands National Monument and the Tularosa basin of New Mexico... monitoring of the sun during daylight hours. Visitors are welcome at this National Observatory, which is...

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Jornada del Muerto Desert

...

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Otero County, New Mexico

Mexico White Sands National Monument Regions of New Mexico Llano Estacado Largest Cities... racial makeup of the county is 73.71% White, 3.92% Black or African American, 5.80% Native American...

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Dune

dune plains (large expanses of dunes) Great Sand Dunes National Monument and Preserve Mesquite Flat Dunes, USA Western Sahara White Sands National Monument Sand dune systems (coastal dunes... a hill of sand built by eolian (wind-related) processes. Bare dunes are subject to shifting location...

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New Mexico

of the state. New Mexico's areas of geographical and scenic interest include White Sands National Monument, Capulin Volcano National Monument, Carlsbad Caverns National Park, the Valles Caldera... the nuclear laboratories at Los Alamos and the missile and spacecraft proving grounds at White Sands...

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List of U.S. national parks

National Monument Tuzigoot National Monument Walnut Canyon National Monument White Sands National... Monument Grand Portage National Monument Great Sand Dunes National Monument and Preserve Hagerman... All United States National Parks and most National Monuments are maintained by the United States...

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