Karen Suermecl aged 11,  Texas for her question:

What is alabaster?

Alabaster is a beautiful mineral often used to make ornaments, It is soft enough to carve. In color, alabaster is often white and translucent. It may also be reddish, grey or yellow, Some of the most beautiful is the color of old ivory.

This lovely stone is made from gypsum. The snowy looking sands of the desert of White Sands Are made of gypsum. Alabaster is formed from a mingling of water and gypsum. It may be cemented in springs, sometimes hot springs. Sometimes water carrying gypsum drips through underground caves. As it dries, the water leaves its load of gypsum behind in the from of solid alabaster stone,