White Sands National Monument is a field of white sand dunes composed of gypsum crystals that have accumulated on the edge of a basin left from the evaporation of an ancient ice-age lake. Gypsum rarely occurs as sand because it is water-soluble. Rain usually dissolves gypsum and rivers then carry it to the sea. The Tularosa Basin in southeast New Mexico has no outlet to the sea, so it traps rain that dissolves gypsum from the surrounding mountains.
New Mexico
Dec 2017
White Sands National Monument by
Paul Sager, on Flickr
That’s a beautiful monotone, Paul--another place I need to go.
Good job! The shadow details are great.
Thank you John, Karin, Mike, merrytexan, David! If you've ever walked the 5-mile loop through the dunes within the Monument, you may remember the midway point where you're overlooking a completely flat gypsum bed with virtually no vegetation. About a half-mile in the distance the scrub bushes start again. This image was take when walking out to where those bushes start again and looking at the distant mountains. Glad you enjoyed.
Nice shot. I've been there to photograph a couple of times. We also used to drive up there once in a while when I was at Ft. Bliss in El Paso. Love the dunes.
How far was this image from the location of the first atomic bomb test - Trinity.
John_F wrote:
How far was this image from the location of the first atomic bomb test - Trinity.
Great question and not one I'd ever considered. It looks like it's within 40-miles, due south. I always thought the roads were going around the military bases / mountains and had never thought to wonder what might be happening on those government lands.
Thank you William, Don, John! As those of us that have been there, the 'magic' of the gypsum sand is that it's cool in the sun, even summer, rather that hot like 'sand' sand.
Seldom do we ever get the chance to get that many textures, lines, and patterns in one image Paul, but you did accomplish that. The B&W is a must to bring them all out! One of those images that you go back to again and again.
Phil
If you want to reply, then
register here. Registration is free and your account is created instantly, so you can post right away.