The Suez Rift developed as a northern extension of the Red Sea rift during the Oligocene-Miocene, whose flanks were constructed from the Neoproterozoic basement rocks of the Arabian–Nubian Shield. These basement rocks are comprised of the whole tectonic history since their formation. The Suez Rift initiation model and proposed thermal overprint role in the rifting process and flank development remain uncertain. Additionally, the amplitude of different regional tectonic events’ effects on the region is still debatable. Integration of fission-track thermochronology data with modeling of the time-temperature history has demonstrated efficiency in addressing such issues. In the context of this study, eleven representative samples were collected from the different rock units in the Wadi El-Dahal area at the northern tip of the western flank of the Suez Rift. These samples revealed Carboniferous zircon fission-track cooling ages of 353 ± 9 Ma and 344 ± 11 Ma. Meanwhile, the apatite fission-track analysis provided two spatially separated age groups: Permian-Triassic and Late Cretaceous, with average ages of 249 ± 11 Ma and ca. 86 ± 10 Ma, respectively. The time-temperature modeling revealed four possible cooling pulses representing exhumation events, which were initiated as a response to four tectonic activities: the accretion-subsequent event of erosion during the Neoproterozoic, the Hercynian (Variscan) tectonic event during the Devonian-Carboniferous, the Mid-Atlantic opening during the Cretaceous, and the Suez Rift opening during the Oligocene-Miocene. The western flank of the Suez Rift suggests a passive mechanical type with no extra thermal overprint, as indicated by the dominance of older thermochronological ages, modest rift flank elevations, and a reduction in the heat flow.

The Arabian–Nubian Shield envelops the entire regional tectonic history from its formation during the Ediacaran to the Red Sea/Gulf of Suez rifting in the Oligocene–Miocene. The occurrence and extent of the expected successive tectonic events on Sinai basement rocks remain uncertain. Integration of thermochronological techniques with time–temperature modelling has proven to be a powerful tool for thermal-tectonic history reconstruction. Therefore, we collected representative samples from the Arabian–Nubian Shield basement rocks of the Wadi Agar area at the eastern flank of the Suez rift. Zircon fission-track data show two cooling age possibilities of Ediacaran and Devonian ages. Meanwhile, apatite fission-track data represent three cooling age spans of Carboniferous, Triassic, and Cretaceous. The integration of these data with the modelled time–temperature histories reveals four different cooling events synchronous with the regional events; (1) the Neoproterozoic post-accretion erosional event that causes near-surface rock uplift, (2) the Devonian–Carboniferous Hercynian tectonic event which affected the region with rocks exhumation of ca. 4.2 ± 1.4 km, (3) the Triassic Gondwana breakup initiation, and (4) the Oligocene–Miocene Gulf of Suez rifting which caused flanks uplift in the studied region of ca. 1.2 ± 0.4 km. The Gulf of Suez is a passive rift with a dominant mechanical component that is divided into two differently exhumed northern and southern segments, where an additional far-field thermal overprint was restricted to the southern segment.

Laser Ablation-Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) is classically used in U-Pb dating to measure U and Pb isotopic concentrations. Recently, it has become frequently used in fission-track (FT) chronometry too. As an advantage, the U-Pb and FT double dating will enable efficiently determining the crystallization ages and the thermo-tectonic history concurrently as samples volume, analytical time, efforts, and cost will be greatly reduced. To demonstrate the validity of this approach, a Younger granite (Ediacaran age) sample from North Eastern Desert (NED), Egypt was analyzed for U-Pb and FT double dating. The integration of multiple geochronologic data yielded a zircon U-Pb crystallization age of 599 ± 30 Ma, after emplacement, the rock cooled /uplifted rapidly to depths of 9–14 km as response to the post-Pan African Orogeny erosional event as indicated by apatite U-Pb age of 474 ± 9 Ma. Afterwards, the area experienced a slow cooling/exhumation for a short period, most-likely as response to denudation effect. During the Devonian, the area was rapidly exhumed to reach depths of 1.5–3 km as response to the Hercynian tectonic event, as indicated by a zircon FT age of 347 ± 16 Ma. Then the studied sample has experienced a relatively long period of thermal stability between the Carboniferous and the Eocene. During the Oligocene-Miocene, the Gulf of Suez opening event affected the area by crustal uplift to its current elevation. This integration of Orogenic and thermo-tectonic information reveals the validity, efficiency, and importance of double dating of U-Pb and FT techniques using LA-ICP-MS methodology.

The effects of different regional tectonic events on the Neoproterozoic basement rocks of the Arabian–Nubian Shield in Sinai, as well as the Egyptian unstable and stable shelves, remain uncertain. Coupling fission-track thermochronometry findings with the modeling of the time–temperature history has proved to be an effective method for tackling these issues. The obtained zircon fission-track ages were differentiated into two groups from the Ediacaran–Cambrian and the Ordovician–Carboniferous periods, while the apatite fission-track data revealed two separate groups of cooling ages of the Carboniferous–Triassic and Late Cretaceous ages. The integration of these cooling ages and modeling of the time–temperature history revealed four discrete cooling pulses during the Neoproterozoic, Devonian–Carboniferous, Cretaceous, and Oligocene–Miocene eras. After integrating our findings with the regional tectonic historical and sedimentological records, these could be identified as cooling/exhumation pulses activated in response to the post-accretional event of erosion, Variscan tectonism, the disintegration of Gondwana, and the Gulf of Suez rifting, respectively. Furthermore, the southern border of the Egyptian unstable shelf was found to extend southward to South Sinai and south of the Bahariya depression.