Abstract
The Maltese Archipelago is 45 km in length and comprises Malta, the most southerly island, which is 27 km long, and Gozo, the more northerly island, which is 14.5 km long. Cornino, in the Cornino Straits separating the two larger islands, is only 2.5 km across, and the adjacent Cominoto is even smaller (Fig. 1). The islands trend northwest to southeast, and they lie 93 km due south of the Ragusa Peninsula of Sicily on the southern end of the shallow submarine shelf which extends under the separating Malta Channel. The shelf continues on to the coast of Tripoli and Tunisia, but reaches depths in excess of 600 fm 15 km southwest of Malta. The shelf between Malta and Sicily is mostly less than 50 fm.
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Pedley, H.M., House, M.R., Waugh, B. (1978). The Geology of the Pelagian Block: The Maltese Islands. In: Nairn, A.E.M., Kanes, W.H., Stehli, F.G. (eds) The Ocean Basins and Margins. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-3039-4_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-3039-4_8
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