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) "Malta Story" (1953), "Midnight Express" (1978), "Gladiator" (2000), "Munich" (2005), "World War Z" (2013) and "Captain Phillips" (2013). In preparation for Malta's membership in the European Union, which it joined on 1 May 2004, it privatised some state-controlled firms and liberalised markets. For example, the government announced on 8 January 2007 that it was selling its 40% stake in MaltaPost, to complete a privatisation process which has been ongoing for the past five years. By 2010, Malta had privatised telecommunications, postal services, shipyards and shipbuilding. The two largest commercial banks are Bank of Valletta and HSBC Bank Malta, both of