HOW DID THE GYPSUM GET HIGH UP THERE IN THE MOUNTAINS?
Excellent question. Those mountains used to be the bottom of a sea.
Now that was way back when New Mexico was located close to the equator and
the world map looked like this:
SUPERCONTINENT PANGAEA
started breaking apart 220 MILLION YEARS AGO
source:
usgs
70 million years ago the Rocky Mountains were formed
and the bottom of that old sea was pushed up. 10 million years ago one of
these elevated spots caved in and created the
Tularosa Basin. (Source)
WHAT'S SO SPECIAL ABOUT WHITE SANDS?
White Sands is the largest surface deposit of gypsum in the world. How
come? Gypsum exists even in large amounts almost everywhere around the
globe. But it is soluble and usually gets washed away into a river or sea
of some sort. Not so in the Tularosa Basin. The word basin tells
you there's no river outlet. Otherwise it would be a valley.
I've seen many beaches with
lots of white sands.
What's the big deal?
White Sands doesn't contain any silicon. It's pure
gypsum. It wouldn't be looking too good on the beach as gypsum is soluble,
remember. By the way, that's why White Sands looks a wee bit grey when it
rains. But not to worry, it seldom rains here in the Tularosa Basin
(hysterical chuckle).
MORE INFO
Find
here the Geological Overview of White Sands National Monument
by S. G. Fryberger.
Geology Fieldnotes provides you with many links to additional
geological information.
This remarkable brochure gives you the
entire scoop on White Sands in a nutshell. I recommend it.
To the best of our knowledge all information is current. If you should discover any errors, however, please
let us know via mail[at]white-sands-new-mexico.com. Thanks!
