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GEOREF RECORD

Congo submarine canyon

Bruce C. Heezen, Maurice Ewing, N. C. L. Granelli, R. J. Menzies and E. D. Schneider
Congo submarine canyon
Am. Assoc. Petroleum Geol. (1964) 48 (7): 1126-1149

Abstract

Data from seismic reflection soundings, piston coring of bottom sediments, and other investigations of the major submarine canyon off the mouth of the Congo river on the west coast of Africa are reported. A subaerial delta is lacking at the mouth of the river, and the head of the canyon is not filled with river deposits. It is apparent that the bed load of the river is transported through the canyon chiefly by turbidity-current action to form a submarine delta ststem--the Congo cone--on the continental slope and the Angola abyssal plain. Repeated failures of a submarine cable between 1886 and 1937 show good correlation with high river discharge and maximum bed-load transport; they are attributed to turbidity currents and therefore provide a record of the frequency of such currents, estimated to occur about 50 times per century.


Serial Title: Am. Assoc. Petroleum Geol.
Serial Volume: 48
Serial Issue: 7
Title: Congo submarine canyon
Pages: 1126-1149
Published: 1964
Text Language: English
Accession Number: 1964-002123
Categories: Oceanography
Document Type: Serial
Bibliographic Level: Analytic
Illustration Description: illus. (incl. sketch maps)
S35°00'00" - N37°00'00", W18°00'00" - E51°00'00"
Secondary Affiliation: GeoRef, Copyright 2019, American Geosciences Institute.
Secondary Affiliation: Reference includes data from Bibliography and Index of Geology Exclusive of North America, Geological Society of America, Boulder, CO, United States
Update Code: 1964
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