
01/12/2023
The White Sands National Monument in New Mexico is a breathtaking area of giant sand dunes protected by national status since 1933. It lies 16 miles south of the nearest town Alamogordo, and only 50 miles north of Mexico. The sand is created by a soft mineral called gypsum. The mineral has collected here because the area sits within the mountain-ringed Tularosa Basin (on the dry bed of an ancient lake) where it is not carried away by rivers or rain.