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The Zaïre River system

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The Ecology of River Systems

Part of the book series: Monographiae Biologicae ((MOBI,volume 60))

Abstract

The Zaïre, seventh longest river in the world, straddles the Equator between 8°N and 13°S, while its basin, the second largest in the world, occupies almost 4million km2. With the form of an enormous shallow saucer, its sides rise gently — and in places sharply — to a rim of varying height. The basin was once filled by an ancient lake which drained to the Atlantic when a coastal river cut a narrow gap through the western rim (Cahen 1954).

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© 1986 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

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Bailey, R.G., Banister, K.E. (1986). The Zaïre River system. In: Davies, B.R., Walker, K.F. (eds) The Ecology of River Systems. Monographiae Biologicae, vol 60. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-3290-1_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-3290-1_6

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-90-481-8515-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-017-3290-1

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