ABSTRACT
The Red Sea range abuts against the Red Sea coast in the south of Egypt leaving a narrow maritime plain where pre-Miocene sediments were eroded. In the Quseir-Safaga district, however, strike faults gave rise to a remarkable topographical complexity in which the pre-Miocene (Cretaceous and Eocene) strata are preserved forming limestone plateaux of which Gebel Duwi is conspicuous. The oldest sedimentary beds, belonging to the well-known Nubia group, rest unconformably over the basement complex. The Ranga overlies unconformably the older sediments which range in age from Precambrian in the south to Cretaceous in the north. The distribution and disposition of the sediments along the coastal strip of the Red Sea seem to indicate that the rifting of the north Red Sea started immediately after the deposition of the early Eocene strata and has continued with episodic intensity since that time.
