At a quick glance, you might mistake these dunes for massive snowdrifts. Although they do make for great sledding, the tiny crystals that form the dunes at White Sands National Park are not snow or ice but gypsum, a soft mineral often used to make plaster and chalk. The dune field became a national monument on this day in 1933 with a proclamation by President Herbert Hoover, which set aside nearly 150,000 acres for preservation. Recently, on December 20, 2019, President Trump signed legislation making it the 62nd designated national park in the National Park System.
Sands of time
Today in History
More Desktop Wallpapers:
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Light show at the skatepark
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Happy Fathers Day!
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Mount Hamilton, near San Jose, California
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Lei Day in Hawaii
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St. Patricks Day
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A valley view at 9,000 feet
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Badlands National Park in South Dakota
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Feel the spray in Monterey
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World Population Day
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April Fools Day
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Gazing upon Portraits of Change
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North Cascades National Park at 50
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The birth of Bauhaus
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Gone ‘lightseeing’ in Berlin
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Holidays in the Venetian Lagoon
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Fall color sweeps across the West
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Infinity Day
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National Bison Day
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International Polar Bear Day
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Mount Pico, Portugal
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Polar bears
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Camel thorn trees, Namib-Naukluft Park, Namibia
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Bringing the moon to Earth
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A star blows a bubble
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La Geria wine region, Lanzarote, Canary Islands
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Fight for your lefts
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Flying high on National Bird Day
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Sequential images of a total solar eclipse
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Bavljenac Island
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National Mushroom Month