<p>I just read that the Congo River is <a href="https://www.livescience.com/congo-river.html#:%7E:text=In%20addition%2C%20the%20Congo%20River,%2C%20according%20to%20Phys.org." rel="nofollow noreferrer">&gt;200m (650 ft) deep</a> - I had no idea that this is even remotely possible!</p>
<p>Q1: What are the processes leading to a river being this deep?</p>
<p>Q2: By which method is the depth of rivers in this range measured?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-08-02T02:07:25.657Z
It seems the origin of this information is K. Oberg, J.M. Shelton, N. Gardiner, and P.R. Jackson. "Discharge and other hydraulic measurements for characterizing the hydraulics of lower Congo River, July 2008." In *Proceedings of the international association for hydraulic research congress*, Vol. 33, 2009, 8 pp. ([PDF online](https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.869.5976&rep=rep1&type=pdf)): " *Acoustic Doppler current profilers (ADCPs), dGPS receivers, echo sounders, [...] were used to make hydraulic measurements [...]* "
njuffa
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-08-02T02:12:13.260Z
I am not comfortable providing an answer to a hydrological question, but from the paper: "Not only is the Lower Congo River deeper and narrower in the lower reaches than expected for a river of its size, the bed topography can change dramatically, both locally and in a given reach. The channel is more like a high-gradient mountain stream with a very large discharge; which is consistent with the theory that a short mountain river eroded through the divide and reached Malebo Pool, forming the present Lower Congo River."
njuffa
<hydrology><rivers><bathymetry>
Surprisingly deep rivers
NotTheMoney
# Surprisingly deep rivers

(Asked by: username_0 on 2022-08-01)

I just read that the Congo River is [>200m (650 ft) deep](https://www.livescience.com/congo-river.html#:%7E:text=In%20addition%2C%20the%20Congo%20River,%2C%20according%20to%20Phys.org.) - I had no idea that this is even remotely possible!

Q1: What are the processes leading to a river being this deep?

Q2: By which method is the depth of rivers in this range measured?

**Tags:** hydrology, rivers, bathymetry

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: It seems the origin of this information is K. Oberg, J.M. Shelton, N. Gardiner, and P.R. Jackson. "Discharge and other hydraulic measurements for characterizing the hydraulics of lower Congo River, July 2008." In *Proceedings of the international association for hydraulic research congress*, Vol. 33, 2009, 8 pp. ([PDF online](https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.869.5976&rep=rep1&type=pdf)): " *Acoustic Doppler current profilers (ADCPs), dGPS receivers, echo sounders, [...] were used to make hydraulic measurements [...]* "  
> **username_1**: I am not comfortable providing an answer to a hydrological question, but from the paper: "Not only is the Lower Congo River deeper and narrower in the lower reaches than expected for a river of its size, the bed topography can change dramatically, both locally and in a given reach. The channel is more like a high-gradient mountain stream with a very large discharge; which is consistent with the theory that a short mountain river eroded through the divide and reached Malebo Pool, forming the present Lower Congo River."  

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## 0 answers

