Helen fordany age 12 of Smyrna$ Tenn.

Why s White Sands Desert white?

White Sands Desert is a most amazing place. Instead of being tawny gold like most stretches of sand it is shining white. It is so white that on a sunny day, it dazzles the eyes. This is because ordinary sand and the sand of White Sands Desert are made from different substances,

Ordinary beach sand is made mostly of quartz stone. There is usually some feldspar and small amounts of other minerals, The sands of White Sands contains none of these substances, It is made entirely of gypsum,

Gypsum is a fairly common mineral. It is composed of water and calcium sulphate, It is only colored when it contains some impurity. When pure gypsum is as colorless as glass. White Sands is made of masses of gypsum broken down into small crystal grains.

When transparent glass is finely powdered it looks white, This is because the fine grains of glass play tricks with the light. Seen by itself any grain of gypsum from White Sands is colorless, But trillions of these little grains of pure gypsum trick the light to give that snowy razzle‑dazzle to the famous desert,