The Sierra Maestra is a
mountain range that runs westward across the south of the old
Oriente Province in southeast
Cuba, rising abruptly from the coast. The range falls mainly within the
Santiago de Cuba and in
Granma Provinces.[1] Some view it as a series of connecting ranges (Vela, Santa Catalina, Quemado Grande, Daña Mariana),[2] which join with others to the west.[3][4][5][6][7] At 1,974 m (6,476 ft),
Pico Turquino is the range's – and the country's – highest point. The area is rich in minerals, especially
copper,
manganese,
chromium, and
iron.
History
The Sierra Maestra has a long history of guerrilla warfare, starting with the resistance of the
Taínos under
Guamá (died 1532), the Cimarrón
Neo-Taíno nations escaped slave cultures, the
Ten Years' War (1868–1878) and the
Cuban War of Independence (1895–1898), and various minor conflicts such as the
Race War of 1912, and the uprisings of
Antonio Guiteras (died 1935) against
Gerardo Machado (President of Cuba from 1925 to 1933) and
Fulgencio Batista (President 1940–1944 and 1952–1959). After
Fidel Castro returned to Cuba in 1956 from exile in
Mexico, he and the few other survivors from the failed 1953 attack on
Moncada Barracks hid in the Sierra Maestra. There they succeeded in expanding their
26th of July Movement, starting a revolution throughout the region. They built up guerrilla columns, and in collaboration with other groups in the central provinces,
Escopeteros on the foot-hills and plains, and the urban resistance, eventually overthrew Batista on 1 January 1959.
Achenbach, Joel and Peter Essic (photographer) 2006 The next big one and special supplement (map): Earthquake risk Zones. Nation Geographic 209(4, April), 120–147 and map.
Cazanas X. ; Barrabi H. ; Melgarejo J.C. ; Luna J.A. 1998. El deposito volcanogenico de Cu-Zn-Pb-Au El Cobre, Cuba Oriental: Estructura y mineralogía The Cu-Zn-Pb-Au volcanogenic deposit El Cobre, Western Cuba (sic): Structure and mineralogy Source: Acta Geológica Hispánica 33 (1–4). 277–333.
Cazanas X.; Escusa A.; Cuba S.; Melgarejo J.C.; Alfonso P.1998 Un modelo de deposito vulcanogenico de manganeso del arco volcanico Paleogeno de Cuba: El ejemplo de la region Cristo-Ponupo-Los Chivos A model of manganese volcanogenic deposit from the Paleogene volcanic island arc of Cuba: The case of the Cristo-Ponupo-Los Chivos region ,Acta Geológica Hispánica 33 (1–4) 239–276
Cazanas X.; Lewis J.; Melgarejo J.C.; Proenza J.A.; Mattietti Kysar G. 1998 Rocas volcanicas de las series Inferior y Media del Grupo El Cobre en la Sierra Maestra (Cuba Oriental): Volcanismo generado en un arco de islas tholeiitico Volcanic rocks from the lower and intermediate series of the El Cobre Group, Sierra Maestra, Eastern Cuba: A case of island arc tholeiites Source: Acta Geológica Hispánica 33 (1–4) 57–74
Chiappy-Jhones C., Rico-Gray V.; Gama L.; and Giddings L. 2001 Floristic affinities between the Yucatán peninsula and some karstic areas of Cuba. Journal of Biogeography 28 (4) 535–542
Morán Arce, Lucas 1980 La revolución cubana, 1953–1959: Una versión rebelde. Imprenta Universitaria, Universidad Católica de Puerto Rico. Ponce, Puerto Rico. ISBN B0000EDAW9
Goreau, P. D. E. 1983 Tectonic Evolution of the North Central Caribbean Plate Margin. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Massachusetts.; Massachusetts Inst. of Tech., Cambridge. Sponsor: National Science Foundation, Washington, D.C.. September 1983. 248p. Report: WHOI-83-34
Rojas-Consuegra, R. 2005 Paleobiogeografía de los Rudistas (Moluscos Cretácicos) reportados en el territorio cubano. I Convención Cubana de Ciencias de la Tierra. GEOCIENCIAS’ 2005. Memorias, Trabajos y Resúmenes. Centro Nacional de Información Geológica. IGP. La Habana. CD ROM. 2005. GEO08-P6: 1–15.
ISBN959-7117-03-7.
Rojas-Consuegra, R. 2005 Estratigrafía, Tafonomía y Paleoecología de los Rudistas (Moluscos Cretácicos) en el territorio cubano. I Convención Cubana de Ciencias de la Tierra. GEOCIENCIAS’ 2005. Memorias, Trabajos y Resúmenes. Centro Nacional de Información Geológica. IGP. La Habana. CD ROM. 2005. GEO08-2: 1–36.
ISBN959-7117-03-7.
Rojas-Consuegra, R., M. A. Iturralde-Vinent, C. Díaz-Otero y D. García-Delgado 2005 Significación paleogeográfica de la brecha basal del Límite K/T en Loma Dos Hermanas (Loma Capiro), en Santa Clara, provincia de Villa Clara. I Convención Cubana de Ciencias de la Tierra. GEOCIENCIAS’ 2005. Memorias, Trabajos y Resúmenes. Centro Nacional de Información Geológica. IGP. La Habana. CD ROM. 2005. GEO08-P7: 1–9.
ISBN959-7117-03-7
La Rosa Corzo, Gabino (translated by Mary Todd) [1988] 2003 Runaway Slave Settlements in Cuba: Resistance and Repression University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill
ISBN0-8078-2803-3
Rousset, Ricardo V. 1918. Historial de Cuba. Libreria Cervantes, Havana, Vol. 3 pp. 137–153.
Scotese, Christopher R. 1999. Evolution of the Caribbean Sea (100 mya – Present) Collision of Cuba with Florida Platform and Opening of the Cayman Trough. PALEOMAP Project
http://www.scotese.com/caribanim.htm
Sigurdsson H.; Bralower T.; King J.; Kelley S.; Leckie R.M.; Carey S. 2000 History of circum-Caribbean explosive volcanism: 40Ar/39Ar dating of tephra layers Source: Proceedings of the Ocean Drilling Program: Scientific Results 165, 299–314.
Takayama H.; Iturralde-Vinent M.A.; Oji T.; Tajika E.; Kiyokawa S.; Garcia D.; Okada H.; Hasegawa T.; Toyoda K.; Tada R.; Matsui T. 2000 Origin of the Penalver Formation in northwestern Cuba and its relation to K/T boundary impact event Sedimentary Geology 135 (1–4) 295–320.
Whitmarsh, Isabel. 1969. Bayatiquirí Tierra de Alegría, Paz y Amor. Leyenda de la Familia Ciargos de Luna. Libro Primero. Guarenas, Venezuela.
The Sierra Maestra is a
mountain range that runs westward across the south of the old
Oriente Province in southeast
Cuba, rising abruptly from the coast. The range falls mainly within the
Santiago de Cuba and in
Granma Provinces.[1] Some view it as a series of connecting ranges (Vela, Santa Catalina, Quemado Grande, Daña Mariana),[2] which join with others to the west.[3][4][5][6][7] At 1,974 m (6,476 ft),
Pico Turquino is the range's – and the country's – highest point. The area is rich in minerals, especially
copper,
manganese,
chromium, and
iron.
History
The Sierra Maestra has a long history of guerrilla warfare, starting with the resistance of the
Taínos under
Guamá (died 1532), the Cimarrón
Neo-Taíno nations escaped slave cultures, the
Ten Years' War (1868–1878) and the
Cuban War of Independence (1895–1898), and various minor conflicts such as the
Race War of 1912, and the uprisings of
Antonio Guiteras (died 1935) against
Gerardo Machado (President of Cuba from 1925 to 1933) and
Fulgencio Batista (President 1940–1944 and 1952–1959). After
Fidel Castro returned to Cuba in 1956 from exile in
Mexico, he and the few other survivors from the failed 1953 attack on
Moncada Barracks hid in the Sierra Maestra. There they succeeded in expanding their
26th of July Movement, starting a revolution throughout the region. They built up guerrilla columns, and in collaboration with other groups in the central provinces,
Escopeteros on the foot-hills and plains, and the urban resistance, eventually overthrew Batista on 1 January 1959.
Achenbach, Joel and Peter Essic (photographer) 2006 The next big one and special supplement (map): Earthquake risk Zones. Nation Geographic 209(4, April), 120–147 and map.
Cazanas X. ; Barrabi H. ; Melgarejo J.C. ; Luna J.A. 1998. El deposito volcanogenico de Cu-Zn-Pb-Au El Cobre, Cuba Oriental: Estructura y mineralogía The Cu-Zn-Pb-Au volcanogenic deposit El Cobre, Western Cuba (sic): Structure and mineralogy Source: Acta Geológica Hispánica 33 (1–4). 277–333.
Cazanas X.; Escusa A.; Cuba S.; Melgarejo J.C.; Alfonso P.1998 Un modelo de deposito vulcanogenico de manganeso del arco volcanico Paleogeno de Cuba: El ejemplo de la region Cristo-Ponupo-Los Chivos A model of manganese volcanogenic deposit from the Paleogene volcanic island arc of Cuba: The case of the Cristo-Ponupo-Los Chivos region ,Acta Geológica Hispánica 33 (1–4) 239–276
Cazanas X.; Lewis J.; Melgarejo J.C.; Proenza J.A.; Mattietti Kysar G. 1998 Rocas volcanicas de las series Inferior y Media del Grupo El Cobre en la Sierra Maestra (Cuba Oriental): Volcanismo generado en un arco de islas tholeiitico Volcanic rocks from the lower and intermediate series of the El Cobre Group, Sierra Maestra, Eastern Cuba: A case of island arc tholeiites Source: Acta Geológica Hispánica 33 (1–4) 57–74
Chiappy-Jhones C., Rico-Gray V.; Gama L.; and Giddings L. 2001 Floristic affinities between the Yucatán peninsula and some karstic areas of Cuba. Journal of Biogeography 28 (4) 535–542
Morán Arce, Lucas 1980 La revolución cubana, 1953–1959: Una versión rebelde. Imprenta Universitaria, Universidad Católica de Puerto Rico. Ponce, Puerto Rico. ISBN B0000EDAW9
Goreau, P. D. E. 1983 Tectonic Evolution of the North Central Caribbean Plate Margin. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Massachusetts.; Massachusetts Inst. of Tech., Cambridge. Sponsor: National Science Foundation, Washington, D.C.. September 1983. 248p. Report: WHOI-83-34
Rojas-Consuegra, R. 2005 Paleobiogeografía de los Rudistas (Moluscos Cretácicos) reportados en el territorio cubano. I Convención Cubana de Ciencias de la Tierra. GEOCIENCIAS’ 2005. Memorias, Trabajos y Resúmenes. Centro Nacional de Información Geológica. IGP. La Habana. CD ROM. 2005. GEO08-P6: 1–15.
ISBN959-7117-03-7.
Rojas-Consuegra, R. 2005 Estratigrafía, Tafonomía y Paleoecología de los Rudistas (Moluscos Cretácicos) en el territorio cubano. I Convención Cubana de Ciencias de la Tierra. GEOCIENCIAS’ 2005. Memorias, Trabajos y Resúmenes. Centro Nacional de Información Geológica. IGP. La Habana. CD ROM. 2005. GEO08-2: 1–36.
ISBN959-7117-03-7.
Rojas-Consuegra, R., M. A. Iturralde-Vinent, C. Díaz-Otero y D. García-Delgado 2005 Significación paleogeográfica de la brecha basal del Límite K/T en Loma Dos Hermanas (Loma Capiro), en Santa Clara, provincia de Villa Clara. I Convención Cubana de Ciencias de la Tierra. GEOCIENCIAS’ 2005. Memorias, Trabajos y Resúmenes. Centro Nacional de Información Geológica. IGP. La Habana. CD ROM. 2005. GEO08-P7: 1–9.
ISBN959-7117-03-7
La Rosa Corzo, Gabino (translated by Mary Todd) [1988] 2003 Runaway Slave Settlements in Cuba: Resistance and Repression University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill
ISBN0-8078-2803-3
Rousset, Ricardo V. 1918. Historial de Cuba. Libreria Cervantes, Havana, Vol. 3 pp. 137–153.
Scotese, Christopher R. 1999. Evolution of the Caribbean Sea (100 mya – Present) Collision of Cuba with Florida Platform and Opening of the Cayman Trough. PALEOMAP Project
http://www.scotese.com/caribanim.htm
Sigurdsson H.; Bralower T.; King J.; Kelley S.; Leckie R.M.; Carey S. 2000 History of circum-Caribbean explosive volcanism: 40Ar/39Ar dating of tephra layers Source: Proceedings of the Ocean Drilling Program: Scientific Results 165, 299–314.
Takayama H.; Iturralde-Vinent M.A.; Oji T.; Tajika E.; Kiyokawa S.; Garcia D.; Okada H.; Hasegawa T.; Toyoda K.; Tada R.; Matsui T. 2000 Origin of the Penalver Formation in northwestern Cuba and its relation to K/T boundary impact event Sedimentary Geology 135 (1–4) 295–320.
Whitmarsh, Isabel. 1969. Bayatiquirí Tierra de Alegría, Paz y Amor. Leyenda de la Familia Ciargos de Luna. Libro Primero. Guarenas, Venezuela.