The analysis shows Paleogene inversion along selected fault trends in the Central Graben and the Sorgenfrei-Tornquist Zone, superimposed onto thermal subsidence centered in the central North Sea. Minor Paleogene and Neogene differential subsidence across reactivated N-S striking basement faults could be invoked as having a tectonic origin, but differential compaction of the underlying thick Mesozoic succession provides a simpler explanation. Our analysis demonstrates that the main mechanism that caused deformation of the Cenozoic succession in the eastern North Sea Basin was reactivation of the Zechstein salt. Cenozoic salt reactivation was a consequence of differential loading by prograding Cenozoic sequences acting on Mesozoic salt structures and salt deposits of varying thickness, controlled by Permian topographic highs.