Multiphase Phanerozoic Subsidence and Uplift History Recorded in the Congo Basin: A Complex Successor Basin - Geology and Resource Potential of the Congo Basin - page 207

E

S

M

G

D

A

L

Fig. 11.1 Geoid gravity anomaly of Africa showing the large depres-
sion of the CB (from Doucour´ and de Wit 2003 ). Also shown are the
locations of the four deep boreholes: (S) Samba, (D) Dekese, (G)

Gilson and (M) Mbandaka, drilled in the 1950s and 1970s near the
center of the basin. A, Angolan Highland; E, Ethiopian Highland; L,
Lesotho Highland

During burial, the expulsion of fluid and the increase in
temperature and pressure reduce the porosity, and conse-
quently the thickness of the stratigraphic sequences by up
to 50 % to 70 % (Allen and Allen 1990 ). This history can be

best-reconstructed using backstripping techniques (Allen
and Allen 2005 ). We extend this method to additionally
take into account episodes of hiatus (no deposition) and
erosion (material removal) in continental domain.