Q 01/05

White Sands National Park is in which U.S. state?

A) New Mexico

B) Arizona

C) Nevada

D) Texas

Answer · why

A) New Mexico

It sits in the Tularosa Basin about 15 miles southwest of the nearest town, and it is the state's most visited NPS site.

Q 02/05

The park's white dunes are made of which mineral rather than ordinary quartz sand?

A) Gypsum

B) Salt

C) Limestone

D) Marble dust

Answer · why

A) Gypsum

It is calcium sulphate, the stuff of plaster and drywall, left behind by Permian seas and washed down from the mountains.

Q 03/05

What distinction do the park's dunes hold worldwide?

A) Tallest sand dunes on Earth

B) Oldest desert on Earth

C) Largest gypsum dunefield on Earth

D) Whitest beach on Earth

Answer · why

C) Largest gypsum dunefield on Earth

It holds some 4.5 billion tons of sand at an average depth of some 30 feet.

Q 04/05

How tall are the tallest dunes in the park?

A) About 20 feet

B) About 60 feet

C) About 150 feet

D) About 400 feet

Answer · why

B) About 60 feet

They are biggest and fastest-moving on the western side and shrink to nothing at the eastern edge.

Q 05/05

Roughly what share of the whole dunefield lies inside the park, with the rest on the missile range?

A) About 15%

B) About 41%

C) About 75%

D) About 95%

Answer · why

B) About 41%

The park protects about 115 of the 275 square miles; the other 160 lie to the north on Army land.