Detail field, litho- and bio-stratigraphic studies on the Upper Cretaceous-Lower
Paleogene rocks exposed in the Eastern Desert of Egypt have provided an opportunity to
evaluate the stratigraphy and the geological evolution of the sedimentary basin.
Lithostratigraphically, seven rock units; Quseir, Duwi, Sudr, Dakhla, Tarawan, Esna and
Thebes formations, are considered after amending and dropping various used rock units
names. Rakhiyat Formation in the north is changed and amended into Quseir Formation
which has been used and consolidated in all sectors. Duwi Formation in the south is
time-equivalent to the lower part of Sudr Formation in the north. Sharawna Member at
Gabal Oweina and Hamama Member at Gabal Qreiya in the south (previously related to
Dakhla Formation) are changed and amended into Sudr Formation which extends
laterally as a tongue toward the south due to the marine transgression during the Late
Campanian-Early Maastrichtian age. Similarly, Owaina Member at Gabal Oweina and
Beida Member at Gabal Qreiya in the south are changed and amended into Dakhla
Formation. Upward Tarawan, Esna and Thebes formations are resting on the Dakhla
Formation all over the study area. Biostratigraphically, the studied successions are
subdivided into 23 planktonic foraminiferal zones covering the interval from Campanian
to Ypresian age. Sedimentation processes of the studied sections are interrupted by
several synsedimentary tectonic episodes related to the collision between
African/Arabian and Eurasia plates during the closure of Tethys Ocean. The relative sealevel
in the study area and global eustatic one together with the synsedimentary tectonic
episodes is associated together.