The Present Day Drainage Patterns of the Congo River System and their Neogene Evolution - Geology and Resource Potential of the Congo Basin - page 311

Fig. 15.5 The topography of CB
system depicting major rivers
and water bodies of the region.
The placement of the
topographic north-south cross-
sections (a, b and c) as seen in
Fig. 15.6a, b and c are shown

southward flowing rivers of the Okavango-Zambezi is found
as well as that of the coastal draining Cuanza system
(Figs. 15.2 and 15.5 ). In the west this plateau region consists
of the dome like Angolan Highlands and its surrounds,
further east: including the Bulozi plains and the Kafue
Highlands (Moore et al. 2007 , Figs. 15.5 and 15.6a ). The
western region is heavily eroded by the Cuanza River and
the Kwango River in the west, with the Kwango River
having eroded to the Precambrian basement in parts of its
deep valley (Figs. 15.5 and 15.6a ). A shallow basin formed
by the Sangha, Oubangi and Congo rivers in the north of
Fig. 15.6a represents the site of Western Congolian wetland
complex. Moving eastward (Fig. 15.6b ) one can see that the
transition from the southern highland regions to the basin is
the most gentle in this zone, relative to the western and
eastern sections (Fig. 15.6a, c ).

The topographic enhancement contributed by the EARS
is illustrated in the rough topography of cross-section C
(Fig. 15.6c ). The area around the EARS is dominated by
rectangular and modified drainage. Several phases of tecton-
ics, rifting and uplift associated with the EARS has resulted
in several steep, incised valleys flowing west, directly into
the basin (Bauer et al. 2010 ; Ring 2008 ; Roller et al. 2010 ).
The relief of the southern portion of the eastern catchments
are dominated by the Kundelungu Plateau which has been
uplifted to an elevation higher than that of the Congo-
Zambezi watershed (Figs. 15.2 and 15.6c ). Thus, the mean
elevations of these southern Congo tributaries range from
1,000-1,400 m.a.s.l, compared to the elevations of
550-900 m.a.s.l of the northern tributaries (Figs. 15.5 and
15.6c ). Of interest is the higher mean elevation of the eastern
section of the southern basin (the Chambeshi River region)