Imagínate pasar el día entre montañas, barrancos o incluso en una cantera polvorienta, no solo admirando el paisaje, sino tocando la tierra con un propósito. Así es un día típico para mí, un geólogo especializado en materiales de construcción. Mi trabajo no es solo mirar rocas bonitas, es buscar la "materia prima" que luego, casi como por arte de magia, se transforma en las paredes de tu casa, la grava de tu camino o los ladrillos de tu barbacoa.
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Imagine spending the day among mountains, ravines, or even in a dusty quarry, not just admiring the scenery, but touching the earth with purpose. This is a typical day for me, a geologist specializing in building materials. My job isn't just to look at pretty rocks; it's to search for the "raw material" that then, almost as if by magic, transforms into the walls of your house, the gravel for your driveway, or the bricks for your barbecue.
[En el Yacimiento de Arcillas de Caolín de Cayo Guam, Moa, Cuba. Actualmente estas arcillas se usan en la producción de elementos cerámicos y cemento bajo en carbono./In the Guam Cay Kaolin Clay Deposit, Moa, Cuba. Currently, these clays are used in the production of ceramic elements and low-carbon cement.]
[Muestreando arenas en Playa Mejías, Sagua de Tánamo Cuba./Sampling sand at Playa Mejías, Sagua de Tánamo, Cuba.]
[Muestreando arcillas caoliníticas en Cayo Guam, Moa, Cuba./Sampling kaolinitic clays on Cayo Guam, Moa, Cuba.]
[Muestreando arcillas en el Cerro de Dumañuecos, Las Tunas, Cuba./Sampling clays in Cerro de Dumañuecos, Las Tunas, Cuba.]
[Muestreando arcillas en El Cobre, Santiago de Cuba, Cuba./Sampling clays in El Cobre, Santiago de Cuba, Cuba.]
Mi aventura empieza en el campo. Salgo con mi martillo de geólogo (mi fiel compañero), mi lupa, mi libreta ya medio llena de garabatos y un montón de bolsas. No busco tesoros brillantes, sino cosas que parecen mucho más simples: ¿Dónde hay una buena veta de arcilla? ¿Esta cantera de piedra caliza será lo suficientemente resistente? ¿Y esta arena, será limpia y duradera?
Le doy golpecitos a las rocas, las examino bajo la lupa (sí, las piedras tienen texturas increíbles, como un mapa microscópico), tomo muestras (¡mis "souvenirs" científicos!) y anoto todo: el color, la dureza, cómo se rompe, si tiene grietas o minerales raros que puedan dar problemas. Pienso en ellas como los ingredientes crudos de una gran receta.
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My adventure begins in the field. I head out with my geologist's hammer (my faithful companion), my magnifying glass, my notebook already half-full of scribbles, and a pile of bags. I'm not looking for shiny treasures, but for things that seem much simpler: Where's a good clay vein? Will this limestone quarry be strong enough? And this sand, will it be clean and durable?
I tap rocks, examine them under the magnifying glass (yes, stones have incredible textures, like a microscopic map), take samples (my scientific "souvenirs"), and note everything down: the color, the hardness, how it breaks, if it has any cracks or rare minerals that might cause problems. I think of them as the raw ingredients in a great recipe.
[En un Yacimiento de Arcillas de Caolín de Yaguajay, Cuba. Actualmente, este Yacimiento supone la mayor reserva del Cuba para la producción de cemento bajo en carbono./In a Kaolin Clay Deposit in Yaguajay, Cuba. Currently, this deposit represents Cuba's largest reserve for the production of low-carbon cement.]
[Campaña de exploración de arcillas en Cayo Guam, Moa, Cuba./Clay exploration campaign in Cayo Guam, Moa, Cuba.]
Y aquí viene la parte mágica (para mí): ver la transformación. Todo ese trabajo de campo y laboratorio no se queda en un informe bonito. Es la base para:
Los Áridos (Grava, Arena): Esa montaña que estudié, con su roca resistente, se tritura y clasifica. De repente, veo camiones cargados de "mi" grava y arena rumbo a una obra. Sé que se mezclarán con cemento y agua para formar el hormigón de los cimientos de una casa nueva, o que servirán de base firme para una carretera. ¡Mi piedra está literalmente sosteniendo cosas!
Los Ladrillos y Tejas: La arcilla que cartografié y analicé en busca de la plasticidad y punto de cocción perfectos, llega a una fábrica. La amasan, la moldean y la meten en hornos gigantes. Y un día, pasando por una obra, veo un muro creciendo ladrillo a ladrillo... ¡con "mi" arcilla cocida! Esa pared protegerá a una familia del frío y el calor.
El Cemento y la Piedra para Muros: Las rocas calizas y arcillas que seleccioné por su composición química exacta, se mezclan, muelen y calcinan a altísimas temperaturas para convertirse en cemento. O bloques grandes de piedra resistente, que estudié para asegurarme que no se fracturarían, se cortan y colocan directamente para hacer un muro de contención elegante y sólido. Es increíble pensar que ese material que salió de la tierra casi intacto, ahora es parte de la estructura misma.
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Then comes the lab. That's where the field samples are analyzed. I crush them (carefully), dissolve them, examine them under powerful microscopes, and bake them to see how they behave under heat... I want to know: How much weight will this rock hold if we turn it into gravel for a road? Will this clay shrink too much when fired and ruin a batch of bricks? Will this stone react poorly with cement? It's like being a detective, looking for clues about how this material will behave later.
And here comes the magical part (for me): seeing the transformation. All that field and lab work doesn't just end with a pretty report. It's the basis for:
Aggregates (Gravel, Sand): That mountain I studied, with its resistant rock, is crushed and classified. Suddenly, I see trucks loaded with "my" gravel and sand headed to a construction site. I know they'll be mixed with cement and water to form the concrete foundation of a new house, or that they'll serve as a firm base for a road. My stone is literally holding things up!
Bricks and Tiles: The clay I mapped and analyzed for the perfect plasticity and firing point arrives at a factory. It's kneaded, molded, and placed in giant kilns. And one day, passing by a construction site, I see a wall growing brick by brick... with "my" fired clay! That wall will protect a family from the cold and heat.
Cement and Stone for Walls: The limestone rocks and clays I selected for their precise chemical composition are mixed, ground, and calcined at extremely high temperatures to become cement. Or large blocks of sturdy stone, which I studied to ensure they wouldn't fracture, are cut and placed directly into an elegant and solid retaining wall. It's incredible to think that the material that emerged from the earth almost intact is now part of the structure itself.
[Cayo Santa María en Santa Clara, Cuba. Sitio de exposición de piezas construidas con cemento bajo en carbono a partir de arcillas calcinadas. Se evalúa como reacciona este cemento a condiciones extremas de corrosión y carbonatación./Cayo Santa María in Santa Clara, Cuba. Exhibition site for pieces constructed with low-carbon cement from calcined clays. This site evaluates how this cement reacts to extreme corrosion and carbonation conditions.]
[Diferentes muestras analizadas en el laboratorio durante una estancia de investigación en el Instituto de Tecnología de Karlsruhe, Alemania en 2020. /Various samples analyzed in the laboratory during a research stay at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany, in 2020.]
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The greatest satisfaction is walking down a street, seeing a house under construction, or even repairing something in my own yard, and recognizing—in the gravel, in a brick, in the color of the cement—the fruit of that labor that began with my muddy boots and my hammer hitting a rock in the middle of nowhere. It's a tangible reminder that, even if my work seems very technical and behind-the-scenes, in the end, it's literally helping to build the place where people live, work, and make their memories. It's connecting pure geology with the warmth of a home. And that's priceless!
[Artesanías hechas de piedra caliza./Handicrafts made of limestone.]
[Los de arriba, bloques huecos hechos con rocas volcánicas, los de abajo bloques huecos hechos con rocas serpentinizadas. /The ones above are hollow blocks made of volcanic rocks, the ones below are hollow blocks made of serpentinized rocks.]
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Lo que usted no vió, se nos atascó en camión/What you didn't see, got stuck in our truck
- I used DeepL translator in its free version, as my native language is Spanish.