Relief

The islands of Malta are dominated bylimestone formations, and much of their coastlines consist of steep or vertical limestone cliffs indented by bays, inlets, and coves. They lie on the submerged Malta-Hyblean Platform, a wide undersea shelf bridge that connects the Ragusa Platform of southern Sicily with the Tripolitana Platform of southern Libya.

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The main physical characteristic of the island of Malta is a well-defined escarpment that bisects it along theVictoria Lines Fault running along the whole breadth of the island from Point ir-Raħeb near Fomm ir-Riħ Bay to the coast northeast of Għargħur at Madliena Fort. The highest areas are coralline limestone uplands thatconstitute a triangular plateau;Ta’ Żuta, which rises to 830 feet (253 metres) in the southwest, is the highest point. The uplands are separated from the surrounding areas by blue clay slopes, while an undercliff area is found where the coralline plateau has fallen and forms a subordinate surface between the sea and the original shore. The total shoreline of Malta is about 136 miles (219 km).

In northern Malta the escarpment is occasionally abrupt and broken by deep embayments. To the south, however, theplateau gradually descends from about 600 to 830 feet (180 to 250 metres) into undulating areas of globigerina (derived from marine protozoa) limestone less than 300 feet (90 metres) in elevation. The western area is characterized by deeply incised valleys and undercliff areas, while to the east there are several valley systems that descend to the central plains.

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The west coast of Malta presents a high, bold, and generally harbourless face. On the east, however, a tongue of high ground known asMount Sceberras, on which the capital city, Valletta, is built, separates Marsamxett Harbour andGrand Harbour. Because of tectonic activity, Malta has been tilted in a northerly direction, producing cliffs of up to about 800 feet (250 metres) high on the south and southwestern coasts, while slopesdescend to low cliffs and rocky shores on the northern and eastern coasts.

The landscape of the island of Gozo is characterized by broken upper coralline mesas, with the highest point being Ta’ Dbiegi Hill (636 feet [194 metres]). Gozo has a gentle easterly dip, so the lower coralline limestone, which forms high cliffs on the west coast, declines to belowsea level but reappears on the east coast at Qala Point. Semicircular bays have formed on coastal cliffs where sinkholes have been invaded by the sea. The rounded bays at Xlendi and Dwejra on the west coast of Gozo originated as underground caverns with roofs that have collapsed.

Drainage

The island of Malta possesses favourable conditions for the percolation and underground storage of water. The impermeable blue clays provide two distinct water tables between the limestone formations—the perched and the mean sea-level aquifer. The principal source for the public supply of water has for several centuries been the main sea-levelwater table. The absence of permanent streams or lakes and a considerable runoff into the sea, however, have madewater supply a problem, which has been addressed with an intensive reverse-osmosis desalination program. About half of Malta’s daily water needs are supplied by desalination plants throughout the islands.

Soils

Mainly young or immature and thin, Maltese soils generally lack humus, and a high carbonate content gives them alkaline properties. Human settlement and construction developments have altered the distribution andcomposition of soils. The Fertile Soil (Preservation) Act of 1973 requires that, when soils are removed from construction sites, they be taken to agricultural areas, and level stretches in quarries are often covered with carted soil.