Editing Dune (section)

===Gypsum dunes===
[[File:Aerial view of dunefield, White Sands National Park, New Mexico, United States.png|thumb|Gypsum dune fields, [[White Sands National Park]], New Mexico, United States]]
In deserts where large amounts of limestone mountains surround a [[closed basin]], such as at [[White Sands National Park]] in south-central [[New Mexico]], occasional storm runoff transports dissolved limestone and [[gypsum]] into a low-lying pan within the basin where the water evaporates, depositing the gypsum and forming crystals known as [[Selenite (mineral)|selenite]]. The crystals left behind by this process are eroded by the wind and deposited as vast white dune fields that resemble snow-covered landscapes. These types of dune are rare, and only form in closed arid basins that retain the highly soluble gypsum that would otherwise be washed into the sea.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nps.gov/whsa/learn/geology-of-white-sands.htm |title=Geology of White Sands|publisher=United States National Park Service|access-date=20 January 2021}}</ref>