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Abstract:
A TYPICAL MORPHOLOGY OF TROPICAL KARSTS: THE KWILU BASIN IN THE LOWER-ZAIRE - The Kwilu basin, in the region of Bas-Zaire, shows typical landscapes of tropical karsts: cone and tower karsts shaped in precambrian limestones of the "Groupe schisto-calcaire". These precambrian series are little tectonised. They are covered with cenozoic formations which are important in the evolution of the karst. Different types of cavities are studied and replaced in the morphostructural context: old caves, originating in phreatic zone and now cut by the erosion, river streams in tunnel-caves, network under the water table. The superficial forms are interpreted as successive evolutive steps: dissection of a surface (morphological or structural) by a dendritic hydrographic network, birth of a cone-karst being transformed in tower-karst overlooking a new surface. We insist on the morphogenetic importance of the paleoclimatic changes and on the existence of an intertropical karstic morphology in stable craton.