Imagination and Scenic Places

Some places fuel the imagination; White Sands National Monument is one of them.  This image is one sent to me by my daughter from their recent trip to New Mexico.  It is a place I have never been, although I have been very close to it.

The monument is within the Tularosa Basin which is also contains Holloman Airforce Base and the U.S. Missile Test Range.  The basin was home to many ancient cultures before the entry of the Spaniards in the 1500's.  Few places have seen such a sweeping transition culminating in the testing of missile defense systems and nuclear weapons.

The white dunes are composed of gypsum which is widely mined and used for such things as fertilizer, plaster, sidewalk chalk and drywall.  It is a wonder the dunes are intact rather than a part of someone's living room!  Alabaster is a variety of gypsum and was used by sculptors in ancient civilizations for some of the most beautiful pieces ever created because of its whiteness.

I remember a a child taking trips to southwestern Oklahoma to visit my Dad's family.  Just outside of Duke, Oklahoma, is the American Gypsum plant.  The soil in that area is full of gypsum.

In many places across the southeastern part of the Texas Panhandle, in the Rolling Plains region, especially near the rivers which cross the area, are outcroppings of gypsum.  Sometimes it is in friable crystalline layers embedded within the red clay soil and in other places forms large crystals.  The Old English word for gypsum translated as "spear stone" because of these large crystals which resembled a spear tip.

As a fertilizer, gypsum is a source of sulfur and was once known as sulfate of lime.  In areas where the soil is deficient in sulfur and calcium it created almost miraculous results.

Gypsum can be a problem in the water -- especially in natural water sources where it is at concentrated levels.  It causes a brackish taste and potentially, diarrhea.   If concentrations are too high, livestock will seek other sources of water.

To me, the dunes inspire thoughts of alien landscapes.  Apparently Steven Spielberg thought the same thing because if you are a fan of "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" you will recognize the landscape in part of the movie.  Click on the link to read about it.