to survive.
Only a few species of plants grow rapidly enough to survive burial by the moving dunes, but several types of small anim
als have evolved white co
lorations to camouf
lage them in t
he gypsum sand. Wh
ite Sands National Mo
nument preserve
s a major part of this gypsum dune field
, along with the plants and anima
- ls that have ada
- pted successfu
- lly to this c
- onstantly
- changing envir
- onment.At the no
- rthern end of the C
- hihuahuan Desert lies a mou
- ntain-ringed valley, the Tularosa Basin. Ri
sing from the heart of this basin is o
ne of the world's great natural wo
- nders-the glisten
- ing white sands of New
- Domestic Training
- Safety
- Mexico.
- Great wave-like
dunes of gypsum sand hav
e engulfed 275 square miles of desert here
- and crea
- ted the largest
- gypsum dune field in the worl
- d. The dunes, b
- rilliant and
- white, are e
- ver changing. They grow, cres
- t, then slump but always
advance. Slowly but relentlessly the sand, driv
en by strong southwest winds, co
- Accounting
- vers everything in i
- ts path
- . Within the
- extremely
- harsh en
vironment of the dune field
, even plants and animals adapted t
- o desert conditions str
- uggle to survive. Only a few species
- of plants grow ra
- pidly enough to surviv
- e burial by the moving dunes, but several types of small animals
have evolved white co
Department Head - Dr. Christa Hockensmith
- lorations to camouflage them in the gypsum sand.
- White Sands National Monument preserve
- s a major part of this gypsum dune field, along with the plants a
- nd animals that have adapted successfully to this constan
- tly changing environment.At the northern end of the Chih
Information Technology Branch
uahuan Desert lies a mountain
- -ringed valley,
- the Tularosa Bas
- in. Rising from the heart of this basin
- is one of the wo
