May 2, 2023 - Dual Marvels of New Mexico

New Mexico
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The glistening patch of white tucked in southern New Mexico’s Tularosa
Valley marks the Earth’s largest gypsum dune field, most of which is
protected as White Sands National Park. On April 29, 2023, the Moderate
Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Terra
satellite acquired a true-color image encompassing not only White Sands
National Park but also the dark Carrizozo Malpaís Lava Flow.

Gypsum is a common mineral found in sedimentary rocks (rocks formed
from layer upon layer of sediment laid down by wind or water), but it
is extremely rare that gypsum forms sand dunes. The Tularosa Valley is
a basin sitting between two mountain ranges which are rich in
sedimentary rocks. Over time, as rain washed over the mountains it
dissolved the gypsum and carried it to the lowest part of the basin,
where it collected in a playa known as Lake Lucero. Eventually the
intense heat in the northern Chihuahuan Desert evaporated most of the
water in the basin, leaving behind crystalline gypsum (selenite), which
then was carried by the wind to form great undulating, bright white
sand dunes that span about 275 square miles (710 square kilometers).

The forces that created the black basaltic rock of the Carrizozo
Malpaís Lava Flow, north of White Sands, were entirely different than
the action of water and wind that created the gypsum dunes. Little
Black Peak, an inactive cinder cone located at the northern end of
Carrizozo Malpaís, is the highest point on the larger shield volcano.
Approximately 5,000 years ago, a vent erupted at Little Black Peak and
lasted several decades. The event created the second youngest lava flow
in New Mexico and one of the longest flows from the Holocene Epoch.
From its northernmost to southernmost points, the it stretches 50 miles
(75 kilometers) across the Chihuahuan Desert.

Image Facts
Satellite: Terra
Date Acquired: 4/29/2023
Resolutions: 1km (86.2 KB), 500m (216 KB), 250m (136.6 KB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC



https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2023-05-02

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