The Ocean of Sand Hidden in West Texas

West Texas is a range of flat dirt and oil fields. However, off the interstate near Monahans Sandhills State Park, there are massive hills of sand stretching out from the area.

Monahans Sandhills
Photo: Canva/DenisTangneyJr from Getty Images Signature

Some of these hills contain sand that reaches 70 feet into the air. It is as if the Sahara Desert fell into Texas. However, it is a giant sponge made from the sand in the area.

Rocky Mountain River Sand

The sandhills contain around 4,000 acres of sand within the state park. However, the sand dunes stretch 200 miles into New Mexico.

Approximately 40,000 years ago, the Rocky Mountains in New Mexico wore away. The mountains’ rocks eroded into the Pecos River. The rivers dried up, and the sand dried into sand. The wind picked these up and carried them into the plains. When the sand reached a hill, it created sand dunes.

Monahans Sandhills
Photo: Phil Evenden from Pexels

The sand dunes are always shifting due to the different directions of the wind throughout the year. In spring, the sand can shift 60 feet due to the wind. However, the remaining months of the year have the wind shift the sand back to where it started.

Advertisement

A Giant Underground Sponge

It might surprise people that there is a desert within the sand dunes. However, the sand dunes absorb the rainfall immediately. The sand contains a layer of rock that holds water and prevents it from drying out in the West Texas sun.

Monahans Sandhills
Photo: Phil Evenden from Pexels

When people dig just a few inches into the sand dunes, they will find damp sand. These sand dunes used to be a source of water for the indigenous people of the area. They would dig into the sand dunes to find drinking water.

Due to this unique property of the sand, there is a strange forest growing within the sand dunes.

A forest of Harvard shin oak trees spans thousands of acres in these sand dunes. The trees grow to just three feet tall. However, the roots of these trees grow to 70 feet deep to reach the trapped water.

These plants also help prevent sand dunes from being blown away during West Texas sandstorms due to their extensive root systems.