The brilliant white light reflecting off the dunes can be seen glowing in the valley from a great distance away and when walking in the dunes at midday the glare off the dunes is almost overwhelming.
White Sands National Monument in New Mexico is unlike most other sand dunes on Earth. Instead of the sand being made of quartz, the sand here is made from gypsum giving these dunes their intensely bright white color. At 275 square miles it is the largest gypsum dune field in the world.
Driven by southwest winds, these dunes are very dynamic, moving up to 30 feet a year. The plants and animals have adapted to this harsh environment of cold winter temperatures, hot summers, very little surface water and highly mineralized ground water. For plants to survive here, they must grow very quickly to outpace the shifting sands. Even animals adapted to desert conditions struggle to survive in this harsh environment.