to survive.
Only a few
species of plants grow rapidly enough to survive
burial by the moving dunes, but several types
of small anim
lorations
to camouf
he gypsum sand. Wh
ite
Sands National Mo
nument preserve
, 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
ne of the world's
great natural wo
- nders-the glisten
- ing white sands
of New
- Domestic Training
- Safety
- Mexico.
- Great wave-like
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
en by strong
southwest winds, co
- Accounting
- vers everything in i
- ts path
- .
Within the
- extremely
- harsh en
, 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
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
uahuan Desert lies
a mountain
- -ringed valley,
- the Tularosa Bas
- in. Rising
from the heart of this basin
- is one of the wo