Structural architecture and tectonic evolution of the Maghara inverted basin, Northern Sinai, Egypt

•Jurassic rifting and Late Cretaceous-Early Tertiary inversion affected Maghara area.•Rift-parallel faults were reactivated by reverse slip.•Rift-oblique faults were reactivated as oblique-slip faults or lateral/oblique ramps.•Two conjugate sets of strike-slip faults dissect the forelimbs of inversion folds.•Anticline–syncline pairs represent transfer zones of en echelon inverted faults.

Large NE–SW oriented asymmetric inversion anticlines bounded on their southeastern sides by reverse faults affect the exposed Mesozoic and Cenozoic sedimentary rocks of the Maghara area (northern Sinai). Seismic data indicate an earlier Jurassic rifting phase and surface structures indicate Late Cretaceous-Early Tertiary inversion phase. The geometry of the early extensional fault system clearly affected the sense of slip of the inverted faults and the geometry of the inversion anticlines. Rift-parallel fault segments were reactivated by reverse slip whereas rift-oblique fault segments were reactivated as oblique-slip faults or lateral/oblique ramps. New syn-inversion faults include two short conjugate strike-slip sets dissecting the forelimbs of inversion anticlines and the inverted faults as well as a set of transverse normal faults dissecting the backlimbs. Small anticline–syncline fold pairs ornamenting the steep flanks of the inversion anticlines are located at the transfer zones between en echelon segments of the inverted faults.