Q 01/05

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

A) New Mexico

B) Arizona

C) Colorado

D) Texas

Answer · why

A) New Mexico

New Mexico: the dunes fill part of the Tularosa Basin, a desert bowl whose outlet to the sea was blocked long ago, so the mineral washed down from the...

Q 02/05

The dunes of White Sands National Park are made of which mineral, rather than ordinary quartz sand?

A) Gypsum

B) Rock salt

C) Limestone

D) Talc

Answer · why

A) Gypsum

Gypsum dissolves in water, so rain and snowmelt carried it down from the mountains in solution. Trapped in the basin, it crystallised as the lakes dri...

Q 03/05

White Sands National Park lies in which desert, also home to Big Bend National Park?

A) Sonoran Desert

B) Chihuahuan Desert

C) Mojave Desert

D) Great Basin Desert

Answer · why

B) Chihuahuan Desert

Chihuahuan Desert: a high desert, and no gentle place. The park has recorded both 111 degrees Fahrenheit in summer and a winter night of minus 25.

Q 04/05

In which direction are the dunes of White Sands slowly marching, driven by the prevailing wind?

A) Northwest

B) Northeast

C) Southeast

D) Southwest

Answer · why

B) Northeast

Northeast: winds from the southwest drive them on, fastest at the bare upwind edge, while the plant-covered dunes on the far side barely move at all.

Q 05/05

In 1982, which space shuttle made the programme's only landing at White Sands?

A) Columbia

B) Challenger

C) Discovery

D) Atlantis

Answer · why

A) Columbia

Columbia came down on a desert runway beside the dunes because its planned landing site in California was flooded. White dust from the strip kept turn...