Abstract
The Natrun Basin, north Western Desert of Egypt, represents a significant oil and gas province as it contains numerous oil and gas production fields. The basin has huge hydrocarbons recovery, mainly from the Jurassic rocks and minor amounts from Cretaceous rocks. The satellite Bouguer gravity, magnetic data, geologic, and available deep-drilled wells represent the primary data for the current research. The study's main goals are to interpret the subsurface tectonic setting, investigate the tectonic evolution of the Natrun Basin, and estimate the depth to the basement surface. Several geophysical techniques were applied to the satellite Bouguer gravity and magnetic data using Geosoft Oasis Montaj (Version. 8.3.3, 2015) to achieve the study's goals. The total magnetic intensity data was transformed into the reduced to pole map to prepare the magnetic data for further separations. The power spectrum was applied to detect the cut-off wavenumbers used in high and low-pass filters to separate the regional and residual anomalies. The first vertical derivative was applied to enhance the residual anomalies. The total horizontal and tilt derivatives were calculated to delineate the edges of the subsurface causative bodies. The 2D modeling was applied to estimate the depth to the basement surface and reveal the configuration of the subsurface rock units. A basement structure map was constructed to reveal the subsurface tectonic setting and evaluation of the Natrun Basin. The depth to the basement surface ranges between 1880 m and 6200 m. The subsurface tectonic setting of the basin was controlled by the N–S East Africa, NE-SW Hercynian, E-W Mediterranean, ENE-WSW Syrian Arc, NW-SE Gulf of Suez, and NNE-SSW Aqaba tectonics from the oldest to the youngest, respectively.
•Structural setting of Natrun Basin was controlled by Tectonic movements from Late Paleozoic to Pliocene.•The Basin was formed in Late Paleozoic and developed during Mesozoic.•The Basin was divided into deeper northern and shallower southern parts in Jurassic.•Depth to basement surface ranges between 1.8 and 6.2 km with northward increase.