The Congolobe project, a multidisciplinary study of Congo deep-sea fan lobe complex: Overview of methods, strategies, observations and sampling

The presently active region of the Congo deep-sea fan (around 330,000km2), called the terminal lobes or lobe complex, covers an area of 2500km2 at 4700–5100m water depth and 750–800km offshore. It is a unique sedimentary area in the world ocean fed by a submarine canyon and a channel-levee system which presently deliver large amounts of organic carbon originating from the Congo River by turbidity currents. This particularity is due to the deep incision of the shelf by the Congo canyon, up to 30km into the estuary, which funnels the Congo River sediments into the deep-sea. The connection between the river and the canyon is unique for major world rivers.