inhabitants’ useoftraditional agricultural techniques for thecultivation oftobacco andothercrops. The Viñales Valley was designated aUNESCO World HeritageSite in1999becauseof thearea’s natural andthe beauty 42 ure Geology and Culture Travels inGeology
EARTH August 2013 Through Cuba’s Through Cuba’s Journeying Journeying www.earthmagazine.org
©Shutterstock.com/Kamira Debra Hanneman
that you get the chance to go to Cuba, so when It’s not every day I found out that the Association for Women Geoscientists (AWG) was offering a trip in March 2013, I jumped at the opportunity. The trip — nearly two weeks of exploration of our southern neighbor’s geology and culture — did not disappoint.
www.earthmagazine.org EARTH August 2013 43 around Cuba. her and13colleagues all people tour ofCuba took The author’s people-to- World HeritageSite. on thestreets ofOldHavana, aUNESCO Street musiciansare acommon sight 44
EARTH August 2013 National Museum of Natural History in Havana Manuel Iturralde-Vinent, aretired curator from the page 51). Once in Havana, our guides — including of the logistical details of the trip (see sidebar, provider of people-to-people travel that took care booked our travel through Insight Cuba, a licensed and Cubans. “meaningful interaction”between thetravelers activities for each traveler that will bring about a ing a full-time schedule of educational exchange zens. These people-to-people visits involve book- “people-to-people” travel to Cuba for U.S. citi licensed bytheU.S. Department ofStatetoprovide U.S. citizens must work with an organization Logistics andItinerary most other countries can readily visit Cuba, but Cuba, initially imposed in 1960. Travelers from because of the continuing U.S. trade embargo on Miami, few U.S. citizens get the chance to visit Although Cuba is just 145 kilometers south of I traveled aspartofa14-person AWG groupthat tory located intheArmastory Plaza ofOldHavana). around Havana Bay (view isfrom atop theNational MuseumofNatural- His The of Havana, city founded by the Spanish in the 16th century, is built up - themselves and loaded us onto our tour bus. We and our geology guide on the trip — introduced of plate subduction and accretion. have helped geologists understand the processes rial such as ophiolites and volcanic arc rocks that largely unsurpassedaccumulation ofoceanicmate- impact event. alsocontainsa Inaddition,Cuba deposits resultingfromthe Chicxulubasteroid tectonic plates, to readily accessible sedimentary North the to respect American and Caribbean rocks that exist because of Cuba’s location with Upper Jurassic and Cretaceous deepwater marine to check out, including everything from unusual Cuba. Cubaprovidessomeinterestinggeology people educational activities arranged by Insight led byIturralde-Vinent, followed bypeople-to- schedule typically included a morning of geology bus through western and central Cuba. Our daily our field destinations. spent thefirstnightinHavana before departing for For the next 10 days, our group traveled via tour www.earthmagazine.org
Bottom: Kathleen Cantner, AGI; top set: Debra Hanneman All: Debra Hanneman was used extensively as façade and block building Hotel National. northofthehistoric inahill immediately outcrops coral reeflimestone of theVedado Formation, Another local limestone, the Middle Pleistocene built in 1589 to guard the entrance to Havana Bay. outcrops beneaththeMorro Castle,a fortress For example, the Pliocene Morro algal limestone local limestoneoutcropsandinitsbuildingstone. exploring, some of Cuba’s geology can be seen in bustling Havana, where we spent our first day UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1982. Even in Havana, the historic city center, was listed as a World expansionoftheSpanishempire.Old strategic location, became a key port for the New founded in the 16th century, and because of its been built uparound Havana Bay. Havana was on the country’s northwestern coast where it has Starting inHavana www.earthmagazine.org Limestone quarried from the Havana shoreline We flewintothecapital,Havana, whichlies completed in 1577, is an imposing structure that Havana. The Castle of the Royal Force, originally the Castle of the Royal Force and the Cathedral of material for several Old Havana buildings such as the province, the Viñales Valley, was designated its stunning views. One of the most scenic parts of as “mogotes” make this area world-renowned for soils and towering limestone hills locally known del RíoProvinceinfarwestern Cuba.The red West Heading Baroque architecture. to be one of the world’s finest examples of Italian a beautiful, undulating façade and is considered and finished bythe city of Havana in 1777 — has Cathedral of Havana — started byJesuits in 1748 became the Governor of Havana’s residence. The harbor to be an effective defense, and it ultimately pirate attacks. The fort was set too farback from the was built to defendtheHavana harboragainst After departing Havana, we headed for Pinar Plaza ofOldHavana. in Havana is situated in the historic Armas 1777. Below: The MuseumofNatural History 1748 and was finished by of Havana the city in by Jesuitsin wasconstruction initiallystarted Havana. Below left: The Cathedral ofHavana’s located onthewestern sideoftheharborin in be the the Americans,oldest stone fort is Left: The Castle oftheRoyal Force, thought to tion ofseveral buildingsinHavana. important Havana-area limestone isusedintheconstruc EARTH
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45 - 46 Sierra occur delRosario mostlyinmassive orpillow forms. The Jurassic Formation basalts of the El Sábalo in the northern
EARTH August 2013 extensive cave systems developed within mogotes north of the town of Pinar del Río. de Ancón, a mogote located about 10 kilometers marine invertebrate fossils on the slopes of Abra Manuel Fernández de Castro first found Jurassic of these rocks dates back to the late 1800s when rocks. Iwas astonishedtofindthegeological study and Paleogene marine to continental sedimentary sequence of exposed Mesozoic marine limestones Terrane. TheSierradelosÓrganos have anamazing of the fold and thrust belts of the Guaniguanico in this part of Cuba. These “mountains” are part Órganos and Sierradel Rosario, borderthecoastline good Cuban cigars. learned about tobacco cultivation and how to roll to-people” stops at a local tobacco farm where we Viñales Valley, we made one of our first “people- cultivation oftobacco and othercrops. Whileinthe use of traditional agricultural techniques for the of the area’s natural beauty and the inhabitants’ a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999 because In nearbyViñales National Park, we saw the Two verdant, low ranges of hills, the Sierra de los to Havana Bay, sitsonPliocene Morro algallimestone. Bottom: Morro Castle, built in 1589 to protect the entrance Paleogene isindicated by inthissection contact thepen. Formation’s events. genesis from impact The Cretaceous- iridium concentration lendevidence to theMoncada event.impact andahigh Abundant shocked quartz mation isa2-meter-thick unitthat records theChicxulub Top: The Cretaceous-Paleogene For Moncada boundary Terrane thatisrelated toboth western Tethys marine fossils nowfoundintheGuaniguanico An assemblage of time-equivalent Cretaceous initiation ofoceanspreading withintheCaribbean. be interpreted as a magmatic event related to the nental margin that faced the Caribbean, and can us that these basalts probably formed on a conti massive or pillow forms. Our geology guide told caught my attention. The basalts occur mostly in in the northern Sierra del Rosario that really was theJurassic basaltsoftheElSábaloFormation marine originthanthoseintheLosÓrganos.But,it Mesozoic limestonesthathave adeeper-water 700 meters of the subterranean waterway. ridealongabout and insteadtookamotorizedboat the lowest level. Someofour group passed up lunch with a subterranean stream that meanders through groundwater action. The cave has several levels, cave systemformedbybothsurfaceriver and north of the town of Viñales, exemplifies a mogote Cueva delIndio,locatedabouteightkilometers of theSierra de los Órganos. Onecave system, The Sierra del Rosario mountains contain mainly contain The SierradelRosariomountains www.earthmagazine.org - -
Left: ©Shutterstock.com/claffra; right set: Debra Hanneman All: Debra Hanneman mation are exposed intheSierra delRosario. marine Forlimestone and shale of the Artemisa The Late Jurassic to EarlyCretaceous deepwater remnants of this catastrophicevent, suchasa Visible inGuaniguanico Terrane rocksareseveral tion thathelped finishoffthenonaviandinosaurs. contributing to the end-Cretaceous mass extinc into the northern Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico, million years ago when a large asteroid slammed tary rocks. The Chicxulub impact event occurred 65 submarine gravity slides), and various sedimen (chaotic mixturesofrockandmudthatresultfrom Chicxulub impact-related deposits, olistostromes geologically youngeststratainthisterrane,include Paleogene, rocks. Guaniguanico Terrane and the overlying, mainly Paleogene boundaryrocksthatexistsinmuchofthe between Middle CretaceousrocksandCretaceous- rocks, Iwanted to see themajor unconformity in the geologic record) and with Paleogene-aged and older rocks signifying a missing time interval unconformities (acontactsurfacebetween younger Pacific faunas supports this interpretation. (Mediterranean-northwest European)andeastern www.earthmagazine.org The latest Cretaceous to Paleogene rocks, the Because my own geological research deals with - - - Soroa complex. The garden hosts 6,000 species of situated immediately southeast of the Hotel Villa Garden led us through the 3.5-hectare garden, and Las Terrazas. in the reserve is limited to two locations, Soroa turesque rivers. Most“culturalexchange”activity of mountainous forests threaded with several pic Reserve in 1985 and covers about 27,000 hectares est in Cuba, was declared a UNESCO Biosphere the Guaniguanico Terrane. This reserve, the old Rosario, which is located in the eastern part of took ustotheBiosphereReserve ofSierradel Getting intothe Paleogene boundary rocks. above the major Middle Cretaceous-Cretaceous/ deposits, and high iridium concentrations, and lies like abundantshockedquartzfragments,tsunami Órganos. Theunitrecordsimpact-relatedfeatures stone located nearthetown of Moncada intheLos two-meter-thick section ofmarine sandstone-clay- One of the botanists at the Soroa Orchid Botanical Botanical Soroa Orchid the at One ofthebotanists Our people-to-peopleactivitiesinwestern Cuba Culture Sierra delosÓrganos. ered into amogote withinthe limestone unitsare now weath- contains Jurassic limestone. The ofPinar delRío, north Guasasa, de del Indio. Sierra Below: The in theLos Órganos nearCueva ofPinaroutcrops delRío, north rich Cretaceous limestone. which thin beddedto laminated, chert- ded limestone withoverlying, ofLate Jurassictact thick-bed- Iturralde-Vinent, shows thecon- geologic Our Left: guide, Manuel EARTH - -
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47 ter house isnow arestaurant. coffee plantation, Cafétal Buenavista. The coffee plantation’s mas- The Las Terrazas contains the restored eco-community ruins of a 48
EARTH August 2013 reforestation effort requiredterracestobe builtto planted in an area of almost 4,900 hectares. The from 1983to 1990,when8milliontrees were 1968, with the bulk of tree planting occurring extensive regeneration project was initiated in nity for coffee cultivation and cattle grazing. An forests that originally surrounded the commu and reforestation. European settlers cleared the lished in 1971 to encourage rural development stop within the reserve. Las Terrazas was estab- northeast ofSoroa,was anotherpeople-to-people ecological concepts, located about 20 kilometers model based on progressive land use ideas and but has been largely restored. damaged in 2008 byhurricanes Gustav and Ike, Cuban endemicvarieties. Thegardenwas heavily species from Central and South America to the and wife. He cultivated only orchids, adding started the garden in 1943 to honor his daughter Tomás Felipe Camacho, a lawyer and naturalist, of orchids,250whichareendemictoCuba. tropical plants and flowers, including 700 species The LasTerrazas eco-community,a community - is known about it. Thus, research on recurrent fault fault Thus, researchonrecurrent it. is knownabout Pinar Fault has probably moved recently, but little northeast tothe presenteasterlydirection. The Plate’schange intheCaribbean motionfromnorth- Caribbean Sea.Thefault’sformation resultedfroma southwestern tipofCuba),whereitextends intothe Cristobal southwest through El Corojo (near the for about 110 kilometers from the vicinity of San Fault. Geologistshave mappedthePinarFault Central uba a restaurant. 1801, where the plantation’s master house is now coffee plantation, Cafétal Buenavista, built in We toured therestored ruins of Cuba’s oldest were scattered throughout the Las Terrazas area. coffee boom in the 1820s to 1830s, 54 coffee estates ent in Las Terrazas. During the peak of the Cuban Las Terrazas. avoid erosion;hence,thecommunitywas named into central Cuba, we crossed the strike-slip Pinar hosts 6,000speciesoftropical plants andflowers. oftheSierraBiosphere and delRosario Reserve The Soroa Orchid Garden lieswithinthe Botanical As we drove out of the Guaniguanico Terrane The biospherereserve’s linkwithcoffeeisappar- www.earthmagazine.org
All: Debra Hanneman Bottom set: Debra Hanneman; top: ©Shutterstock.com/TK Revolution (see sidebar above). leader whoplayed amajor roleintheCuban soleum of Che Guevara, the 20th century Marxist Clara, we stopped at a monument to and the mau ted withpeople-to-peopleactivities. WhileinSanta red patches of soil. rubbly-looking surface interspersed with bright Plate-North American Plate collision,formsa to early Upper Eocene because of the Caribbean sedimentary belt deformed during the Paleocene in Eocenelimestone.The limestone,partofa Santa Clara area. oceanic plate now exposed on land) belt in the exposures inthe ophiolite (ancient pieces of ted fieldtime looking at sections of mélange subduction events. We spent most of our allot- very different kinds ofrocksformedbyplate Research Center. study undertaken byCuba’s National Earthquake movement is part of a current regional seismicity www.earthmagazine.org Our geologic tour of central Cuba was also dot- Geologically, central Cuba is a fold belt with We alsovisitedakarstlandscapedeveloped lution that triumphed in 1959. In Novemberlution thatin1959.In triumphed 1956, Guevara eventually caught andexecuted inBolivia. tions. attempts Both at revolution endedbadlywith to theCongo andthen to to Bolivia organize revolu- government posts, buthetired ofthoseandwent Fidel Castro appointed Guevara to several important 1952-1959) exile from Cuba. After the revolution, president from 1940-1944 and a Cuban from dictator This battle resulted inFulgencio Batista’s (aCuban ofSanta Clara inDecember 1958. thecity turing tion’s leadership. He is most remembered for cap of theirarrival. ers were by theCuban killed army withinafew days and many of the revolutionaries and their support onCubanvous soilwas disastrous, withsupporters 11-meter yacht named Granma. Their initial rendez- revolutionaries sailedfrom Mexico to Cuba ona Guevara, Fidel Castro, Castro, Raul and79other rebellion leader. Marxist Guevara, the20thcentury stopped at amonument to andmausoleumofChe A Che Guevara Guevara went onto beprominent intherevolu- Guevara played a major role in the Cuban revo to-people activities. activities. to-people While inSanta Clara, we central Cuba was interspersed with people- s inwestern Cuba, ourgeologic tour of - - - - Missile Crisis.Missile aries stayed inthiscave duringtheCuban Che Guevara andhis fellow revolution- a quarry onthePinar Fault.a quarry graphs thegougezone at A fieldtripmemberphoto Santa Clara where Guevara’s troops seized thecity. ment andmausoleumbecauseofthe1958Battle of Santa Clarain Bolivia. becamethesite ofthemonu- Guevara’sduring to promote 1967effort revolution remains ofGuevara and29othercombatants killed The Guevara mausoleum at Santa Clara contains the trip member). by David Hoffman, afield tinite matrix (scaleprovided intensely deformed serpen - morphic blockswithinan sizes ofophioliticandmeta- Clara, consists of assorted central Cuba, nearSanta An ophioliticmélangeof - EARTH DH
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49 50 pieces ofpast festival displays. Christmas festival, ispacked withmany annualborhoods intheRemedios borhood, oneofthecompeting neigh- A warehouse Salvadorneigh- intheSan
EARTH August 2013 on bicitaxis(a bicycle-likevehicle builttocarry val occurred when we ventured through the city at nine in the evening. Our glimpse into the festi begins with the ringing of the Parish Church bells or floats. The competition, held on Christmas Eve, with fireworks displays and colorful “carrozas,” which the neighborhoods try to outdo each other neighborhoods of San Salvador and El Carmen, in petition ofextravagance between theRemedios ioner attendance, the “parrandas” is now a com Cuba. Initiallybegunbyapriesttoenhanceparish- 16-26 and is thought to be the oldest festival in de Remedios,” which occurs every year from Dec. making it one of the oldest cities in Cuba. the founding of Remedios between 1513 and 1524, to Cuba’snortherncoast.Mosthistoriansplace Finishing wit Festivals about 40 kilometers east of Santa Clara and close The city is known for its festival, “Las Parrandas One of our final stops was the city of Remedios, - - uation mapping. andgeologic and gasassessments, paleontological resource eval- working onmineral assessments, hydrogeology, oil sulting company, Whitehall Geogroup, Inc., hasbeen ment, andtheprivate sector. recently, Most hercon- sciences hasspannedacademics, governin theearth - versity Her ofMontanaprofessional inMissoula. life Hanneman hasadoctorate from ingeology theUni - even more of Cuba’s geology. short period.Ilookforward toreturningandseeing Cuban geology and culture we had seen in such a dinner in Old Havana, I was amazed at how much recounted our Cuban travels during our farewell at pieces of their past festival creations. of the San Salvador parrandas artists and looking structed. We hadagreattimetheretalkingtosome warehouse where the displays and floats are con passengers) to the San Salvador neighborhood’s Our tour finished back in Havana. As we see the city ofRemedios.see thecity Traveling by bicitaxis is a fun way to www.earthmagazine.org -
All: Debbie Hanneman ©www.iStockphoto.com/ Luigi Rescigno The organization alsotook care oftheconsiderable itinerary. people-to-people withthenecessary trips and customize that atrip meldedgeological field travel. Cuba Insight worked with our group to arrange ofour which didagoodjoboforganizing allaspects was booked through Cuba,entertainment Insight travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1097.html website onvisitingCuba isagreat http:// place to start: required for U.S. citizens; theU.S. State Department’s U.S. oftravel is withthistype citizens. agency Booking that provides “people-to-people” travel to Cuba for B and Getting Getting activity. Varadero isCuba’s Beach destination. premier beach-resort visit the beaches, American visitors would have to find a way of an educational to make the beach part “person-to-person” Cuba’s coastline isringedwithgorgeous beaches, butmostAmericans can’t visitthembecauseofthetrade embargo. To www.earthmagazine.org Our transportation, meals, lodging transportation, andevenOur most agency licensed by theU.S.agency Treasury Department for U.S. citizens involves goingthrough atravel ecause oftheU.S. embargo, gettingto Cuba There . helped makeour experience adelight. with it! The mojitos, Cuba libres and good coffee also being afanofbothbefore Iwent to Cuba, Iwas fine good. consisted Meals of a lot of rice and beans, but all hotels were wonderful. The food we ate was quite in Santa Clara we lodgedat the Villa Los Canéyes — Soroa we spent two nights at the Hotel Villa Soroa and PinarIn del Río, we were at theHotel Pinar delRío, in inHavana. Airport International flight forboarded JoséMartí acharter inFlorida where we InternationalAirport the Miami group Cuba metwithanInsight representative at caused bypaperwork the U.S. trade embargo. Our While inHavana, we stayed at theHotel Presidente. Around EARTH DH
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