White Sands, New Mexico - encyclopedia article about White Sands, New Mexico.

White Sands is located at (32.384064, -106.497698)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 8.0 km² (3.1 mi²), all land.

Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 1,323 people, 432 households, and 355 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 165.8/km² (429.2/mi²). There were 667 housing units at an average density of 83.6/km² (216.4/mi²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 71.43% White, 11.56% African American, 0.98% Native American, 3.70% Asian, 0.08% Pacific Islander, 6.27% from other races, and 5.97% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 17.61% of the population.

There were 432 households out of which 56.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 72.0% were married couples living together, 6.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 17.8% were non-families. 16.4% of all households were made up of individuals and none had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.06 and the average family size was 3.45.

In the CDP the population was spread out with 37.3% under the age of 18, 9.4% from 18 to 24, 39.7% from 25 to 44, 13.0% from 45 to 64, and 0.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 27 years. For every 100 females there were 105.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 103.7 males.

The median income for a household in the CDP was $43,500, and the median income for a family was $47,750. Males had a median income of $40,402 versus $21,250 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $16,186. About 1.5% of families and 2.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.8% of those under age 18 and none of those age 65 or over. The White Sands of New Mexico=275 square miles.

Condition

The desert lies under the scorching sun of Tularosa Basin New Mexico, its white sands gleaming like freshly fallen snow. These powdery grains of sand are not composed of quartz, unlike most desert sands, but of soft, chalky gypsum, or calcium sulphate. Also, unlike other desert sands, they are cool to the touch, due to the high rate of evaporation of surface moisture and also to the fact that the sands reflect, rather than absorb, the sun's rays. It is the world's largest surface deposit of gypsum, the mineral from which plaster of Paris is made.

Gypsum is one of the most common mineral compounds found on Earth but is rarely seen on the surface, as it dissolves easily in water.The origins of this amazing 'desert' dates back to around 100 million years ago, during which it was covered by a shallow sea. As its waters gradually receded, saltwater lakes were left behind, which eventually evaporated in the sun. In addition to salt, gypsum was also laid down in thick deposits on the old seabed.

The Sacramento and San Andreas mountain ranges, with the Tularosa Basin between them, started taking shape 65 million years ago. Giant upheavals in the Earth's crust folded and crumpled the land and the gypsum deposits, thrusting them high into the air.

Constant rainfall and meltwater coming from the mountains caused the gypsum to leach out and concentrated solutions were washed down the mountainsides. The gypsum solution accumulated in Lake Lucero, the lowest part of the Tularosa Basin. Water in the lake does not have any means of escaping except by evaporation, which leaves behind thin layers of crystalised gypsum, or selenite. Weathering then reduces these crystals to fine, sandy grains. South-westerly winds carry the grains farther up the basin, and the grains pile in steep dunes that are often as high as 15m (50ft). The winds carve more dunes and, at the same time, carry small amounts of the gypsum grains by distances of up to 9m (30ft) a year.

This constant movement of the sands, added with their alkaline nature and the little amount of rainfall makes it difficult for plants to grow here.

External links

* Maps and aerial photos for Coordinates:
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Topographic maps from TopoZone or TerraServer-USA

IMDb profile

White Sands is a 1992 motion picture directed by Roger Donaldson and written by Daniel Pyne for Warner Bros.. The movie is about a small U.S. southwestern town sheriff who finds a body in the desert with a suitcase and $500,000.
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Coat of arms elements

A motto (from Italian) is a phrase or a short list of words meant formally to describe the general motivation or intention of an entity, social group, or organization.
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country, state, and nation can have various meanings. Therefore, diverse lists of these entities are possible. Wikipedia offers the following lists:

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Motto
"In God We Trust" (since 1956)
"E Pluribus Unum" ("From Many, One"; Latin, traditional)
Anthem
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United States of America

This article is part of the series:
Politics and government of
the United States

Federal government
Constitution
Taxation

President Vice President
Cabinet

Congress
Senate
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State of New Mexico

Flag of New Mexico Seal
Nickname(s): Land of Enchantment / Tierra del Encanto
Motto(s): Crescit eundo

Capital Santa Fe
Largest city Albuquerque
Largest metro area
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counties in the U.S. state of New Mexico. There were originally nine counties formed in 1852. Santa Ana County, New Mexico Territory, one of the nine original counties, was annexed in 1876 to Bernalillo County, New Mexico.
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Doña Ana County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Mexico. As of 2000, the population was 174,682. Its county seat is Las Cruces, also the largest city in the county and second-largest in New Mexico. Smaller towns in the county include Mesilla, Doña Ana, Hatch, and Organ.
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Area is a physical quantity expressing the size of a part of a surface. The term Surface area is the summation of the areas of the exposed sides of an object.

Units

Units for measuring surface area include:

square metre = SI derived unit

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A census-designated place (CDP) is a type of place, an area identified by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes. CDPs are delineated for each decennial census as the statistical counterparts of incorporated places such as cities, towns and villages.
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square mile is an imperial and US unit of area equal the area of a square of one statute mile. It should not be confused with the archaic miles square, which refers to the number of miles on each side squared.
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Square kilometre (U.S. spelling: square kilometer), symbol km², is a decimal multiple of the SI unit of surface area, the square metre, one of the SI derived units. 1 km² is equal to:

1,000,000 m²
100 ha (hectare)

Conversely:

1 m² = 0.

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The Twenty-Second United States Census, known as Census 2000 and conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2% over the 248,709,873 persons enumerated during the 1990 Census.
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Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, humans in particular.

Biological population densities

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time zone is a region of the Earth that has adopted the same standard time, usually referred to as the local time. Most adjacent time zones are exactly one hour apart, and by convention compute their local time as an offset from UTC (see also Greenwich Mean Time).
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The Mountain Time Zone of North America keeps time by subtracting seven hours from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC-7) during the shortest days of autumn and winter, and by subtracting six hours during daylight saving time in the spring, summer, and early autumn (UTC-6).
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UTC−7 can be observed in:

Mountain Standard Time Zone
Pacific Daylight Time Zone
Canada
The portion of the Peace River Valley in British Columbia.

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Daylight saving time (DST; also summer time in British English) is the convention of advancing clocks so that afternoons have more daylight and mornings have less.
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Areas using UTC−6

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Multizoned countries

Canada, United States (Central Standard Time/Mountain Daylight Time)

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ZIP code is the system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service (USPS). The letters ZIP, an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan,^[1]
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area code 505 is a state of New Mexico telephone area code which was one of the original area codes established in October, 1947. It currently serves the entire state.

Due to the increasing demand for new numbers, area code 505 is scheduled to be split on October 7, 2007.
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Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) are publicly announced standards developed by the United States Federal government for use by all non-military government agencies and by government contractors.
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Motto
"In God We Trust" (since 1956)
"E Pluribus Unum" ("From Many, One"; Latin, traditional)
Anthem
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White Sands Missile Range (WSMR), formerly known as the White Sands Proving Grounds, is a rocket range in New Mexico operated by the United States Army. The range covers an area of almost 3,200 mi² (8 287 km²), approximately three times the size of Rhode Island, making it
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Location New Mexico, USA
Nearest city Alamogordo, NM
Coordinates
Area 143,733 (581 km²)
Established July 25, 1933

Governing body National Park Service
The White Sands National Monument
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The United States Census Bureau (officially Bureau of the Census as defined in Title 13 U.S.C. 11 ) is a part of the United States Department of Commerce.
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