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gypsum dune field
Gypsum is a soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula CaSO4·2H2O. It is widely mined and is used as a fertilizer and as the main constituent in many forms of plaster, blackboard or sidewalk chalk, and drywall. Alabaster, a fine-grained white or lightly tinted variety of gypsum, has been used for sculpture by many cultures including Ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Ancient Rome, the Byzantine Empire, and the Nottingham alabasters of Medieval England. Gypsum also crystallizes as translucent crystals of selenite. It forms as an evaporite mineral and as a hydration product of anhydrite.
The Mohs scale of mineral hardness defines gypsum as hardness value 2 based on scratch hardness comparison.
The "sand" at White Sands National Park isn't real—it's an optical illusion
One of the newest national parks, White Sands, is nothing but an optical illusion. First off, it's not actually made of sand—it's a gypsum dune field (and the largest of its kind on the planet). The crystals reflect the...