Reconnaissance gravimétrique de la chaîne Ouest-congolienne, Congo-Bas-Zaïre

Abstract

A new gravimetric reconnaissance survey of the West-Congolian fold belt between the Congo and Lower Zaire has enabled the definition of four major gravimetric domains, which coincide with the recognized structural units. The interpretation of the gravimetric pattern in terms of recent geological data is consistent with the interpretation that the present day structure of the belt resulted from Pan-African tectogenesis (600 Ma), which produced geological structures with eastward vergence, towards the Zaïrian craton. In the proposed model, the different crustal segments would have been welded together in Pan-African time, and the existence of a suture zone further west, below the Mesozoïc to Recent sedimentary cover, is postulated.