Scientific mission in Matadi and Boma regions - Kongo Central- DRC

This field mission was carried out in Kongo Central (DR Congo) as part of the finalization of Aimée LOVE PAY's DEA (GeoRes4Dev, CRGM & UniKin scholarship holder), supervised by Camille FRANCOIS (MRAC) and accompanied by Damien DELVAUX (MRAC), Hardy NKODIA (GeoRes4Dev scholarship holder, Univ M. Ngouabi, Brazzaville), and Nicole KITAMBALA (CRGM & UniKin).

This field mission, conducted in Kongo Central (DR Congo) between the cities of Matadi (Zone No. 1) and Boma (Zone No. 2), aimed to study rocks from the Paleoproterozoic (Kimeza Supergroup), Mesoproterozoic (Nzadi Group), and Neoproterozoic (Gangila Formation, Inga Formation, and Tshela Group) that were deformed by two major collision chains around 2.1 billion years ago (Kimeza orogeny) and around 550 million years ago (Pan-African orogeny).

Aimée LOVE PAY's DEA provides important new information on the various lithologies composing the Kimeza Supergroup (violet masses below), the relationships with the surrounding geological formations, and the context of the Kimeza orogeny (the mountain chain) of Eburnean age (ca. 2 Ga), which is poorly understood in the region. This period is crucial in the geodynamic history of our planet as it records the first evidence of plate tectonics on a global scale.