Malta’s Submerged Landscapes and Landforms

Abstract

The application of acoustic techniques, such as multibeam echosounders, has permitted the identification of Maltese submarine landscapes and landforms that were progressively inundated during the postglacial sea-level rise. Remarkably, geomorphological features due to fluvial, gravity-induced and karst processes that took place under former subaerial conditions can be clearly recognised on the present seafloor around the Maltese archipelago, and they were only slightly modified by sea action during the postglacial transgression phases. The analysis of the submerged landforms described in this chapter is crucial for understanding the evolution of the Maltese Islands during the last ca. 20,000 years