Wind-Ribbed White Dunes

Wind-Ribbed White Dunes is an original illustration set in White Sands, New Mexico, USA. It lies in the subtropics, where the climate is cold desert — arid, with freezing winters.

Brilliant white crescent dunes sweep across a high desert basin, their windward faces etched with fine parallel ripples and their slip faces dropping in clean curves. Scattered soap-tree yuccas emerge from interdune flats, while blue mountain walls enclose the horizon beneath an intensely clear sky.

Why do bright gypsum dunes form repeated crescents in this closed basin?

Because runoff carries dissolved gypsum from surrounding mountains into a closed basin with no river outlet, evaporation leaves pale crystals that break into sand. Prevailing winds then push that sand into migrating crescent ridges, while plants trap small stable patches. The unusual mineral source, enclosed topography, white color, and wind-organized ripples therefore distinguish White Sands from ordinary quartz dunes.

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