Atlantic Submarine Valleys of the United States and the Congo Submarine Valley

Part II.—The Congo Submarine Valley
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Published:January 01, 1939
Map of Congo Estuary and Submarine Canyon
The compilation of this map (Pl. 2) has been made from the sources acknowledged in the title. Unfortunately it is not possible to print both soundings and contours in the area covered by Carta Hidrografica do Rio Zaire because of the large number of soundings plotted on this excellent Portuguese chart, which is printed on a natural scale of 1:50,000. A section of the submarine canyon in the vicinity of Banana Point, where some of the sharp bends exist, is shown in Figure 10 with all the soundings. This also shows plainly the evidence of the dissected character of the side walls of the submarine canyon. In this case, as well as in the canyons of the Atlantic Continental Slope of the United States, there is undoubtedly more dissection than the available soundings prove. A copy of Carta Hidrografica do Rio Zaire was obtained only a few months before the senior author's death, and as the remainder of the data for the Congo Estuary map had been assembled, and all the known sources explored, it was necessary to add this excellent piece of hydrographic work, contoured by the junior author, to the partially completed sheets.
Between the eastern limit of the Portuguese chart and the eastern limit of the map, the submarine configuration is taken from the British Admiralty Chart No. 638. The shallow channels in the upper river undoubtedly change in this region from year to year, so the information in this . . .