This false-color composite LANDSAT satellite photograph shows (from left to right): the San Andres
Mountains; the Tularosa basin with the White Sands gypsum dunes and playas to the south and the
black lava flows of the Carrizozo (Valley of Fires) to the north; and the eastward-dipping fault block of
the Sacramento Mountains. The blue color of the White Sands area is an artifact of the compositing of
LANDSAT bands 2, 4, and 7. Living vegetation is shown in various shades of green

 

---

White Sands geology —— Scholle home page —— NM Bureau staff page —— NM Bureau main page