Congo Canyon

[1] The canyon begins inland on the continent, partway up the Congo Estuary, and starts at a depth of 21 meters.

[2] At the bottom of the continental slope, it enters the Congo deep-sea fan and extends for an additional 220 km.

[3] These are essentially underwater avalanches that can propagate for hundreds of kilometers, and their strength and frequency correlate strongly with the period of highest outflow from the Congo River.

[6] The connection through the Congo submarine canyon allowed the direct transfer of terrestrial materials to the abyssal zone of the fan system.

[7] The fan is built up by sediment gravity flows and other submarine mass movements, but also represents a very large active turbidite system.