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Malta Escarpment

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Coordinates: 36°44′N 15°21′E / 36.733°N 15.350°E / 36.733; 15.350
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Malta Escarpment
Malta Escarpment is located in Italy
Malta Escarpment
Malta Escarpment
Mediterranean Sea
Location
LocationMediterranean Sea
Coordinates36°44′N 15°21′E / 36.733°N 15.350°E / 36.733; 15.350

The Malta Escarpment is a prominent undersea geological feature of the Mediterranean Sea that runs southwards from the eastern coasts from Sicily and the Malta towards the Medina Seamounts near the African coast and divides the Mediterranean Sea naturally into western and eastern regions.[1][2][3] It is also known as the Sicily-Malta Escarpment.[4]

The 290 km long escarpment[3] can reach heights of 3.5 km and has a gradient of 45°, making it one of the largest and steepest seafloor features.[5]

The submarine cliff comprises a sequence of carbonate and volcanic rock outcrops marking the eastern end of the Malta Plateau continental shelf.[1][5]

The University of Malta, UK National Oceanography Centre, New Zealand National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, University College Dublin and Italy’s Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e Geofisica researched extensively the escarpment between 2012 and 2018.[1][5][6]

Diverging viewpoints exist regarding the stability of the eastern flank of the Mount Etna volcano, which extends underwater at the edge of the escarpment.[7] The escarpment is also the source of the volcano's lava.[8]

The Eurasian and African Tectonic Plates [9]

The escarpment was formed by the subduction of the African Plate beneath the Eurasian Plate.[10][11] These movements are still ongoing, roughly an annual 4 millimetres in the western Mediterranean to one centimetre in the eastern Mediterranean.[12] Severalearthquakes and subsequent tsunamis struck the Ionian coast of south-eastern Sicily and the Maltese archipelago in 1169, 1693 and 1908.[13] The study of geological features such as the Malta Escarpment is especially important in the understanding of the causes and effects of earthquakes, landslides and tsunamis.[14] Disaster prevention and mitigation measures, such as education and early warning systems, can assist in the protection of coastal communities. The Tsunami Ready Recognition Programme of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission within UNESCO is one such initiative.[15]

Undersea Canyons

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The undersea cliff is incised by more than 500 canyons, while landslide occurrence has been inferred from sediment samples collected from the base of the escarpment. The 2012 research on the escarpment closest to Sicily identified 70 submarine landslides as well as black coral reefs, while a 2014 survey focused further south but still on the northern part of the escarpment, especially on the Cumecs Canyon.[5][16][17] Rich biological communities may be found in the canyons, which also serve as channels for both nutrients and pollution due to underwater currents.[17][18] Striped dolphins were observed near these canyons.[19]

The largest of the canyons are the Noto, Cumecs, and Heron Canyons. The Noto Canyon is 27 km long, 15 km wide and 1.5 km deep, while the Cumecs Canyon is 37 km long, 39 km wide and 3 km. Both are within the northern part of the escarpment. The Heron Canyon is the largest canyon along the escarpment, being 100 km long and up to 10 km wide. Its depth ranges from 450 m at the head to 4 km at the mouth and may be found towards the south end of the escarpment. This southern area of the escarpment has been observed to be close to a wrench zone.[3]

The particularity of these deep underwater valleys is that they are not associated with any existing rivers.[17] Six million years ago, following the closure of the Straits of Gibraltar, the Mediterranean Sea was transformed into a giant saline lake that partially dried up as a result of the dry climate of the region. More than one million cubic kilometres of salt were deposited on the Mediterranean seabed, with salt deposits in some locations exceeding 3 km in thickness. This period, known as the Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC), lasted around 640,000 years until a catastrophic flood through the Strait of Gibraltar. known as the Zanclean flood. After refilling of the western Mediterranean Sea basin, seawater overflowed over the escarpment into the Ionian basin. The flood resulted in a 1.5 km high waterfall eroding significantly the Noto Canyon, leaving extensive sediments over a large area and up to 900 m deep. Researchers used these geological features and salt deposits, to demonstrate that:

During the MSC, an acquifier holding approximately 17.5 cubic kilometers of water formed thousands of feet below the Hyblaean Mountains.[21][22]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "SCARP: Investigating the Malta Escarpment". University of Malta. Retrieved 2025-01-12.
  2. ^ "Google Maps". 36°43'31.0"N 15°21'00.0"E · 36.725278, 15.350000. Retrieved 2025-01-12.
  3. ^ a b c d Micallef, Aaron; Camerlenghi, Angelo; Georgiopoulou, Aggeliki; Garcia-Castellanos, Daniel; Gutscher, Marc-André; Lo Iacono, Claudio; AI Huvenne, Veerle; Mountjoy, Joshu J.; Paull, Charles K.; Le Bas, Timothy; Spatola, Daniele; Facchin, Lorenzo; Accettella, Daniela (2019). "Geomorphic evolution of the Malta Escarpment and implications for the Messinian evaporative drawdown in the eastern Mediterranean Sea" (PDF). Geomorphology. 327 (327): 264–283. doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2018.11.012.
  4. ^ "Marine Regions · Sicily-Malta Escarpment (Escarpment)". marineregions.org. Retrieved 2025-01-11.
  5. ^ a b c d "CUMECS-2: About". CUMECS-2. Retrieved 2025-01-12.
  6. ^ "Underwater Landslides and deep water corals discovered during CUMECS expedition - The Malta Independent". www.independent.com.mt. Retrieved 2025-01-12.
  7. ^ Argnani, A.; Bonazzi, C. (2005). "Malta Escarpment fault zone offshore eastern Sicily: Pliocene-Quaternary tectonic evolution based on new multichannel seismic data". Tectonics. 24 (4). Bibcode:2005Tecto..24.4009A. doi:10.1029/2004TC001656. ISSN 1944-9194.
  8. ^ "Mount Etna's lava originates from Malta Escarpment – geological study - The Malta Independent". www.independent.com.mt. Retrieved 2025-01-19.
  9. ^ FieldsetJ (2017-11-09), English: Map of tectonic plates of Sicily, modified from File:Tectonic_plates_(empty).svg, retrieved 2021-05-13
  10. ^ "Mediterranean Sea - Geology, Climate, Biodiversity | Britannica". www.britannica.com. 2025-01-09. Retrieved 2025-01-10.
  11. ^ Vanney, Jean-René, and Maurice Gennesseaux. "Mediterranean seafloor features: overview and assessment." Geological Evolution of the Mediterranean Basin: Raimondo Selli Commemorative Volume (1985) ISBN 978-1-4613-8574-5: 3-32. https://www.vliz.be/imisdocs/publications/261914.pdf
  12. ^ Herman, Matthew W.; Hayes, Gavin P.; Smoczyk, Gregory M.; Turner, Rebecca; Turner, Bethan; Jenkins, Jennifer; Davies, Sian; Parker, Amy; Sinclair, Allison (2015). Seismicity of the Earth 1900‒2013 Mediterranean Sea and vicinity (Report). U.S. Geological Survey.
  13. ^ Biolchi, Sara; Furlani, Stefano; Antonioli, Fabrizio; Baldassini, Niccoló; Causon Deguara, Joanna; Devoto, Stefano; Di Stefano, Agata; Evans, Julian; Gambin, Timothy; Gauci, Ritienne; Mastronuzzi, Giuseppe; Monaco, Carmelo; Scicchitano, Giovanni (2016-03-16). "Boulder accumulations related to extreme wave events on the eastern coast of Malta". Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences. 16 (3): 737–756. Bibcode:2016NHESS..16..737B. doi:10.5194/nhess-16-737-2016. ISSN 1561-8633.
  14. ^ Schulten, I.; Micallef, A.; Krastel, S.; Urlaub, M.; Gutscher, M. -A.; Kopp, H. (2023-05-01). "Reconstruction of the 1908 Messina gravity flow (central Mediterranean Sea) from geophysical and sedimentological data". Marine Geology. 459: 107047. Bibcode:2023MGeol.45907047S. doi:10.1016/j.margeo.2023.107047. ISSN 0025-3227.
  15. ^ "Tsunami Risk in the Mediterranean: Malta and Stromboli Island in Focus in New Documentaries". Archived from the original on 2024-12-27. Retrieved 2025-01-22.
  16. ^ "4036 HRDTM 1/64 Cumecs Canyon". EMODnet Product Catalogue.
  17. ^ a b c Ameen, Juan (2014-09-14). "Massive canyon found in Mediterranean sea cliff". Times of Malta. Retrieved 2025-01-12.
  18. ^ "CUMECS-2". cumecs2.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2025-01-12.
  19. ^ Vella, Adriana; Vella, Joseph G. (2012). Central-southern Mediterranean submarine canyons and steep slopes : role played in the distribution of cetaceans, bluefin tunas and elasmobranchs. International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. ISBN 978-2-8317-1469-1.
  20. ^ Malta, Times of (2018-02-27). "Watch: How the Mediterranean was flooded millions of years ago". Times of Malta. Retrieved 2025-01-12.
  21. ^ Tortell, Ana (2023-12-10). "Conduit For Ancient Freshwater Dating Back Millions Of Years Found In Malta Escarpment". Lovin Malta. Retrieved 2025-01-19.
  22. ^ Lipparini, Lorenzo; Chiacchieri, Damiano; Bencini, Roberto; Micallef, Aaron (2023-11-22). "Extensive freshened groundwater resources emplaced during the Messinian sea-level drawdown in southern Sicily, Italy". Communications Earth & Environment. 4 (1): 430. Bibcode:2023ComEE...4..430L. doi:10.1038/s43247-023-01077-w. ISSN 2662-4435.
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