Like many other American deserts, the majority of the Mojave isn't covered with sand.
The United States is home to four deserts -- the Chihuahuan, the Great Basin, the Sonoran and the Mojave. Each of these deserts features great diversity in its plant and animal life, and all are considered "hot deserts," except for the Great Basin. While none of these deserts is uniformly sandy, there are some smaller areas within these regions that do produce sand dunes.
The Kelso Dunes
Located in the Mojave Desert, the Kelso Dunes rise tower more than 600 feet above the surrounding desert floor. The finely grained sand that makes up the Kelso Dunes includes many golden rose quartz particles, which give the dunes their color. For many years scientists were stumped about how the massive sand dunes accumulated. but they now know that the system is composed of several sets of dunes, stacked on top of one another, each of which formed after a climate change in the area. Geologists estimate that it took approximately 25,000 years for the whole system to form.
Eureka Dunes
Located northwest of Death Valley, the Eureka Dunes are part of an enclosed basin in the Eureka Valley, in the Mojave Desert. The dunes spread 1 mile wide and 3 miles long, and are the tallest in California, rising approximately 680 feet above the dry lake bed at the dunes' base.
White Sands National Monument
The world's largest gypsum sand dune field stretches 275 square miles across New Mexico's Tularosa Basin, much of which is preserved by the White Sands National Monument. Water-soluble gypsum is rarely found in sand form, but since the Tularosa Basin has no outlet for precipitation, the gypsum crystallizes and is left behind when the water evaporates.
Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park
As the name suggests, the Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park features a beautiful expanse of coral-colored sand dunes. Located in southwestern Utah, the dunes are surrounded by the red sandstone cliffs of the Moquith and Moccasin mountains. The coral-colored sand dunes in the 3,730-acre park get their unique color from the erosion of the pink Navajo Sandstone that surrounds the park.
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