Geology and Resource Potential of the Congo Basin

About this book

Geology and Resource Potential of the Congo Basin will summarize the geology and geophysics of the Congo basin and provide an up to date analyses of this data in terms of the origin and evolution of this, one of the world's most enigmatic and poorly understood major intra-continental sedimentary basins.

Geology and Resource Potential of the Congo Basin will take the reader through the entire basement history as well as the cover sequences, starting from the Archean to the most recent Cenozoic successions, and attempt to correlate these sequences to its Gondwanan counterpart in South America (Parana Basin).

A specific feature of Geology and Resource Potential of the Congo Basin will be the synthesis of geological, geophysical and natural resource data, by teams of active experts, of the Congo basin and flanking areas, which to date have only been recorded in survey bulletins and scattered journal articles, as well as in on-going research programme reports. The sheer size of the area (some 4 million sq. km, or almost 50 per cent of the USA) will make this a sought after source of information and inspiration.

Contents

Regional Lithosphere Framework: Crust and Mantle
- The upper mantle seismic velocity structure of south-central Africa and the seismic architecture of Precambrian lithosphere beneath the Congo basin (CB)

Precambrian basement of the Congo basin and flanking terranes
Basin Sedimentology and Stratigraphy: Neoproterozoic-Cambrian; Paleozoic-Early Mesozoic; Mesozoic; Cenozoic
- An overview of the Neoproterozoic sedimentary series in DRC and neighbouring countries
- Sedimentology and sequence stratigraphy of late Precambrian carbonates of the Mbuji-Mayi Supergroup in the Sankuru-Mbuji-Maji-Lomami-Lovoy basin (DRC)
- Probable fungal colonization and carbonate diagenesis of Neoproterozoic stromatolites from South Gabon
- Neoproterozoic to Cambrian evolution of the Congo basin
- Carboniferous-Triassic stratigraphy and paleogeography of Karoo-like sequences of the CB
- Facies analysis, chronostratigraphy and paleo-environmental reconstructions of the Jurassic-Cretaceous sequences of the CB
- Mesozoic sedimentary cover sequences of the Congo basin in the Kasai Region, DRC
- Formation and collapse of the African surface (Kalahari duricrust) across the CB, with implications for changes in the rates of Cenozoic off-shore sedimentation

Geodynamics, Tectonic Evolution and Basin Models
- Multiphase Phanerozoic subsidence and uplift history
- Thermal regime and evolution of the CB as an intracratonic basin
- New regional correlations between the CB and the Paraná basin of central West Gondwana

Neotectonics, Geomorphology and River Systems
- Cenozoic landscape evolution in and around the Congo basin
- Present day drainage patterns of the Congo river system and their Neogene evolution

Resources: Economic and Potential Deposits
- Diamond-bearing gravels along the Kwango river, DRC
- A review of the kimberlites in the DRC
- Petroleum potential of the Congo basin
- Metallogenic fingerprints of the Congo shield with predictions for mineral endowment beneath the Congo basin

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