The results of integrating geological well data and geophysical inform
ation from the subsurface of northern Egypt are presented in terms of
basin dynamics. Recent biostratigraphic data from wells and scarce out
crops are shown to be critical to an understanding of syndepositional
tectonics. Six tectonostratigraphic phases of basin evolution are reco
gnized to span the Phanerozoic. These phases initially record the deve
lopment of intracratonic subsidence, controlled by deep crustal strike
-slip tectonics, as Nubian continental and Tethyan marine influences c
ompeted across the northern margin of Gondwanaland. Evidence is also p
resented for the formation of the present day continental margin to no
rthern Egypt. After a phase of crustal stretching, oceanic rifting foc
used on the western margin of the Arabian Platform, propagating progre
ssively westwards during the Early-Mid-Jurassic. Thereafter, the effec
ts of passive subsidence on the continental margin were disturbed by d
iscrete phases of intracratonic strike-slip, associated 'Syrian Arc' f
olding, apd the formation of deep basins in the opening Red Sea and Gu
lf of Suez. Three structural fabrics persisted throughout Phanerozoic
basin evolution, the result of repeated extensional reactivation and i
nheritance from Pan-African basement.