Figure explanation: Modeled basin geometry and time-line stratigraphy for the early post-rift phase. The Argilles Vertes and Tchibota formations consist of interacting deltaic deposits that partially infilled the region between the hinge zones following deposition of the Marnes Noires. After deposition of the Argilles Vertes formation, an erosional unconformity (the pre-Chela unconformity) developed between the hinge zones and out across the Atlantic hinge. Water depths continue to increase to the west of the Atlantic hinge. The first major marine incursion into the Congo region flooded local depocenters created earlier by the interacting deltaic systems of the Argilles Vertes and Tchibota formations. These restrictive environments were conducive to the deposition of evaporites (Loeme formation). The restrictive environments may have accentuated by the development of rimmed carbonate platforms across the Atlantic hinge zone.