Fig. 3: 3D view of the Nile delta and the buried Messinian canyon illustrating landscape evolution being restored.

a Base Pliocene structural map (= MES). b Restored topography for the earliest Pliocene immediately after sea level recovery and prior to any Pliocene deposition (shale parameters for decompaction and Te = 30 km for deflection, same as Fig. 2 f). The isobath 650 m represents the fallen MSC shoreline. c Present-day topography. Black lines mark locations of cross sections (Fig. 4). Part of the area annotated as “flat delta plain” in the present topography (c) was a few hundred m asl in the earliest Pliocene (b).