Delvaux, D.,  Kadima, E.,  Littke, R.,  Sachse, V. & Sebagenzi, S. 2011. ‘Tectonic and time-temperature evolution of the intracratonic Congo Basin’. PESGB meeting, Africa: A legacy of Exploration and DiscoveryQEII Conference Center, London, 7-8 September 2011. Book of abstracts.

Conference abstract

The Phanerozoic tectonic and basin evolution in Central Africa is still poorly known. Paleozoic and Mesozoic sediments are poorly exposed in East Africa and are largely concealed under recent sediments in the central part of the Congo Basin (Cuvette Centrale). The Royal Museum for Central Africa (Tervuren, Belgium) hosts a unique collection of geological archives from the DRC, including samples from outcrops and cored drill holes. A re-investigation of the Samba and Dekese ~ 2000 m deep fully cored exploration wells and archived outcrop samples combined with recent structural field work along the western branch of the East African rift system allow to highlight the late Paleozoic – Mesozoic evolution of the coupled system formed by the intracratonic Congo basin and the surrounding Meso-Cenozoic rifts. Revision of the stratigraphy, paleostress reconstruction using fault-slip data from core samples and outcrops, organic matter maturation with time-temperature/maturation modeling together suggest that the Congo Basin evolved as a series of subsidence and inversions events driven by tectonic processes affecting the Congo-Tanzanian cratonic plate. During the Cretaceous, an important stage of basin subsidence followed by basin inversion is evidenced, sub-contemporaneously with the Senonian Basin inversion and rejuvenation event that affected the surrounding regions in Africa. This recent evolution has previously been under estimated and provides new perspectives in terms of petroleum potential for the Congo Basin.

• Développement des capacités en géodynamique à l’UNILU, RDC