Origin and function of a closed depression in equatorial humid zones: The Lake Télé in North Congo

Laraque, Alain; Pouyaud, Bernard; Rocchia, R.; Robin, Éric; Chaffaut, Isabelle; Moutsambote, Jean Marie; Maziezoula, Bienvenu; Censier, Claude; Albouy, Yves; Elenga, Hilaire; Etcheber, Henri; Delaune, Mireille; Sondag, Francis; Gasse, Françoise

doi:10.1016/s0022-1694(98)00137-1

Cited by 28 publications

(38 citation statements)

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“…From a rainfall perspective, the Congolese central basin largely functions as a closed system of precipitation, on-site evaporation, and precipitation because of the topographic barrier around the Cuvette Centrale (Robert, 1946;Sorre, 1948). An immense elliptical body of water (3 m deep with a surface of 23 km 2 and maximum water storage of 55 × 10 6 m 3 ) called Lake Telé is located in the heart of the dense Congolese equatorial forest, where hydrological exchanges are almost exclusively vertical with very little lateral contribution from the surrounding swamp (Laraque et al, 1998). Furthermore, the basin contains several large, permanent open-water lakes, including Lake Tanganyika, the largest of the African rift lakes and the world's second largest by volume and depth (Coulter, 1991;Cohen et al, 1993).…”

Section: Study Regionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Lagrangian perspective of the hydrological cycle in the Congo River basin

et al. 2017

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Abstract. The Lagrangian model FLEXPART is used to identify the moisture sources of the Congo River basin (CRB) and investigate their role in the hydrological cycle. This model allows us to track atmospheric parcels while calculating changes in the specific humidity through the budget of evaporation minus precipitation. This method permits the annual-scale identification of five continental and four oceanic principal regions that provide moisture to the CRB from both hemispheres over the course of the year. The most important is the CRB, which provides more than 50 % of the total atmospheric moisture contribution to precipitation over itself. Additionally, both the land that extends to the east of the CRB and the eastern equatorial South Atlantic Ocean are very important sources, while the Red Sea source is merely important in the (E − P ) budget over the CRB despite its high evaporation rate. The moisture-sink patterns over the CRB in air masses that were tracked forward in time from all the sources follow the latitudinal rainfall migration and are mostly highly correlated with the pattern of the precipitation rate, ensuring a link between them. In wet (dry) years, the contribution of moisture to precipitation from the CRB over itself increases (decreases). Despite the enhanced evaporative conditions over the basin during dry years, the vertically integrated moisture flux (VIMF) divergence inhibits precipitation and suggests the transport of moisture from the CRB to remote regions.

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Section: Study Regionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Lagrangian perspective of the hydrological cycle in the Congo River basin

et al. 2017

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“…They investigated samples for spherules (similar to those found from the central African Republic by Censier et al, 1992), and analysed them for Ir, in the hope of detecting cosmogenic Ir derived from a possible meteoritic impactor. However, their results were negative, and no sample yielded values above the detection limit (Laraque et al, 1998). No other work was done, and no other evidence was presented, to support this hypothesis; nevertheless, Laraque et al (1998) suggested that perhaps the structure was the result of an airburst similar to that which accompanied the Tunguska event in Siberia in 1908, and they pointed out the absence of iridium anomalies associated with that event.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…However, their results were negative, and no sample yielded values above the detection limit (Laraque et al, 1998). No other work was done, and no other evidence was presented, to support this hypothesis; nevertheless, Laraque et al (1998) suggested that perhaps the structure was the result of an airburst similar to that which accompanied the Tunguska event in Siberia in 1908, and they pointed out the absence of iridium anomalies associated with that event. Thus although the Lac Télé structure is of interest to the cryptozoological, biodiversity conservation, and impact cratering communities, the question of its origin still remains open.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Various expeditions, both by scientists and by lay adventurers, have visited Lac Télé in the past several decades (Heuvelmans, 1958(Heuvelmans, , 1980Grandin, 1976;Anon., 1981;Regusters, 1982;Mackal et al, 1982;Agnagna, 1983;ISC, 1986;Mackal, 1987;Nugent, 1993;O'Hanlon, 1996;Laraque et al, 1997Laraque et al, , 1998Ndanga, 2000;Quammen, 2000;Martin and Menvielle, 2004;Gibbons, 2009;Anon., 2010). None of the expeditions in search of the Mokele-Mbembe met with any success, although some claim to have sighted the creature (Regusters, 1982;Mackal et al, 1982;Agnagna, 1983).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Insets show the Republic of Congo, and its location in Africa. After Laraque et al (1998). Others claim that the creature is a reptile, akin to a sauropod dinosaur, that somehow continues to survive in the jungles of the Congo Basin (Heuvelmans, 1980;Mackal, 1987;Nugent, 1993;Shuker, 1995;Emmer, 2009). The legend of the The region shown in this image consists mainly of dense tropical rain forest and swampland.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Lac Télé structure, Republic of Congo: Geological setting of a cryptozoological and biodiversity hotspot, and evidence against an impact origin

Master

2010

Journal of African Earth Sciences

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Opportunities for hydrologic research in the Congo Basin

et al. 2016

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We review the published results on the Congo Basin hydrology and summarize the historic and ongoing research. Annual rainfall is ~1900 mm/yr along an east‐west trend across the basin, decreasing northward and southward to ~1100 mm/yr. Historic studies using lysimeters, pans, and models suggest that the annual potential evapotranspiration varies little across the basin at 1100 to 1200 mm/yr. Over the past century, river discharge data have been collected at hundreds of stream gauges with historic and recent data at 96 locations now publicly available. Congo River discharge at Kinshasa‐Brazzaville experienced an increase of 21% during the 1960–1970 decade in comparison to most other decades. Satellite altimetry measurements of high and low flows show that water levels in the “Cuvette Centrale” wetland are 0.5 m to 3.0 m higher in elevation than the immediately adjacent Congo River levels. Wetland water depths are shallow at about a meter and there does not appear to be many sizable channels across the “Cuvette”; thus, wetland flows are diffusive. Cuvette waters alone are estimated to emit about 0.5 Pg CH4 and CO2 equivalents/yr, an amount that is significant compared to global carbon evasions. Using these results, we suggest seven hypotheses that focus on the source of the Cuvette waters and how these leave the wetland, on the river discharge generated by historic rainfall, on the connection between climate change and the rainfall‐runoff generated by the migrating “tropical rainbelt,” on deforestation and hydroelectric power generation, and on the amount of carbon emitted from Congo waters.

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Origin and function of a closed depression in equatorial humid zones: The Lake Télé in North Congo

Cited by 28 publications

References 5 publications

A Lagrangian perspective of the hydrological cycle in the Congo River basin

A Lagrangian perspective of the hydrological cycle in the Congo River basin

Lac Télé structure, Republic of Congo: Geological setting of a cryptozoological and biodiversity hotspot, and evidence against an impact origin

Opportunities for hydrologic research in the Congo Basin

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