Show waw y h p NEW tv artt GYPSUM GYP UK nfl nal i i wavry ww vry o 0 Z s y at y A 71 ii W y i i y 2 N T v t t w y ii i i AA the white sands of alamogordo Alamo gordo prepared by the tha national mat ional geographic society washington D C service S ONE stands upon the t h e A A heights of the san andres J mountains in the neighborhood of rhodes pass new mexico one looks out upon an ocean of white wh ite south and east stretches a vast ser see on which the glint of white caps appears as real as the ro rocky shores the view is a startling mirage closer inspection reveals that the billowing snowy expanse is the white sands of alamogordo Alamo gordo the windrow like dunes seem velvety in their softness yet many of them are firm enough to permit rr motorists to roll their cars from one crest to the next in roller coaster fashion some of the hills have attained a height of feet but 50 feet probably represents the average curious stories of the origin of the sands have circulated since t they hey have been known to americans but the truth is not less interesting than the fanciful explanations the processes of making are going on constantly st underlying the tularosa Tu larosa basin are beds of permian limestone and sandstone between the layers of which are interspersed thick beds 0 gypsum borings bolings made in recent years reveal that the gypsum is I 1 hundreds of feet below the present valley floor and that water is encountered at depths of a thousand feet or less the nature of the sedimentary rocks above the water bearing sands is favorable to upward seepage As the water on its upward course passes through the gypsum de posits it dissolves that material and carries a rather full load to the surface the limestone through which the solution passes is not readily soluble very little in addition to gyp gypsum is carried by the rising water when evaporation takes place at the surface a fairly pure crust of gypsum is deposited which under action of the atmosphere crumbles to form crystalline grains the prevailing southwest wind sweeps these crystals from the surface upon which they were formed and piles them in huge drifts to the north and east of the point of origin the wind erosion excavates basins the flat floors of which may be 10 to 30 30 feet below ithe surface of the plain and 50 fector more below the tops of the dunes basins of moist sands nearly everywhere in the basin floors moist sands are encountered at a depth of a few inches ordinarily sand erosion does not develop flat surfaces but the flatness of these floors is manifestly causee by the water table which limits the depth to which the sand erosion can gothe largest of the basins from which the sands are blown is a boggy lake bed at the south end of the dune area but many of the smaller flat floored depressions are scattered through the area the size of the depression affects the height of the sand piles built up to the lee of it hills and mountains surrounding the tularosa Tu larosa basin contain gypsum and it is evident that some of df the deposit is brought from this source by surface waters that feed it to the large natural evaporation pa i at the so south uth end of the sands whether the source is the deeply buried beds or the visible deposits in the mountains the processes of evaporation crumbling und and drifting with the wind are the same the en end d product is invariably beautiful white win and clean the picture afforded in this expanse of white sand is unlike anything known the white environment has produced a notable effect upon the limited animal life of the sands and zoologists looi u to this natural laboratory for possible answers to questions bearing upon adaptation in places large cottonwood trees nearly covered up with sand live a strange existence producing roots where upper branches once grew when the sand drifts and exposes their modified anatomy they still stand amazing specimens with groota interspersed with dead branches along trunks that have been changed as a result of long burial red lakes come and go disinterred specimens of the yucca are to be seen that have struggled in an eff effort ort to keep their heads above the shifting sands until their stems have elongated to some thirty feet for several years the appearance and disappearance of red lakes in the sands have caused conjecture among biologists and chemists studies made during the last few months have tentatively identified an organism which may be responsible for the strange color hanges that take place in the waters of certain ponds arid pools apparently the vermilion lakes can exist only when the water has evaporated to a condition of high salt content for the organism is known to grow only in salt water of high concentration sites once occupied by an ancient people are well known to the present residents of the region and obscure reminders ot of early spanish activity are to be seen in many places throughout the valley three centuries ago spanish explorers and missionaries frequented the tularosa Tu larosa desert and wondered at its white sands they noted the unusual chemical properties of the nearly square miles of drifting gypsum and quite likely wished for means of transporting this abundant supply of pure akabas alabaster ter to the settlements and churches a hundred miles to the north recently at the mouth of deadman canyon in the san andres just west of the white sands a prominent son of the state diate of new mexico uncovered unmistakable evidences that the spanish americans of a generation long dead had entered the tularosa Tu larosa desert area with vehicles divulgence of this forgotten travel calein the form of two massive wooden wheels from an early mexican oxcart it an authentic story could be woven about those relics perhaps the period of the who abandoned his conveyance would be established as no earlier than the nineteenth century however maps of the padres and dons definitely point to eighteenth century routes east and west across the tularosa Tu larosa as well as north and south where the trails parallel the mountain mounta in i boundaries of its bas basin in many uses for gypsum the value of these sands for plaster of paris pans and fireproofing material is well recognized and repeated attempts have been made to make commercial use of them gypsum finds a multitude of uses in commerce and industry As a fertilizer wid wd soil conditioner it is distributed as agricultural gypsum As mineral white it finds use as a filler in paper paint and fabrics the makers of portland cement require it as a in sculpture and the making of decorative devices dev i ces in architecture and building it is known as alabaster even the scho school 0 1 boys boy S arayo crayons ns utilize much gypsum when natural gypsum is dehydrated by heat it becomes the quick setting cement known as plaster of paris about four million tons of this gypsum are used each year for wall p plaster laster or stucco plate glass makers imbed their glass in plaster of paris paria preparatory to polishing plasterboard wallboard board and gyp sum lath all require much gypsum each year gypsum blocks block SIN and tile are used in partitions root roof construction and flooring fl where fireproofing and sound insulation are important surgeons dentists and artists demand the finer grades of af gypsum for making casting plaster it appears on first thought that here in in the nearly pure gypsum of white sands is a verk veritable table fortune in plaster but tularosa Tu larosa is far removed from large markets old settlers of the region have watched feared and hated the white sands for half a century this one of the worlds greatest deposits of pure gypsum has grown before i the their r eyes threatening homes and land that might be useful |