Geology of Malta Geology of Malta The Geology of Malta consists of a sequence of sedimentary rocks of late Oligocene to late Miocene age cut through by a set of extensional faults of Pliocene age. The Maltese archipelago is situated on the mainly shallow water continental platform between Sicily and North Africa that lies beneath the Sicily Channel, separating the Ionian Basin from the western Mediterranean Basin. The islands lie around 200 km to the south of the subduction boundary between the African Plate and the Eurasian Plate. The platform is crossed by a rift zone formed of three grabens: the Pantelleria graben,
Malta (island) several times more sunshine; for comparison: in December, London has 37 hours of sunshine whereas Malta has about 160. According to Eurostat, Malta Island is a single Larger Urban Zone nominally referred to as "Valletta". According to Demographia, the whole country is identified as urban area. According to European Spatial Planning Observation Network, Malta is identified as Functional Urban Area (FUA). According to United Nations, about 95% area of Malta is urban area and the number grows every year. Also, according to the results of ESPON and EU Commission studies, ""the whole territory of Malta constitutes a single urban region"".