Geology of Malta The largest of the second set are the Victoria Lines Fault on northern Malta and the Qala Fault on southern Gozo. Overall, the islands of the archipelago are tilted towards the northeast, with cliffs on the southwest coast and descending gradients towards the northeast. The Maltese archipalego is linked to Sicily by an underwater plateau of depths of less than 100 m. During different marine regressions of the Mediterranean, Malta has been connected to Sicily by a surface isthmus by which animals have been able to cross, as evinced by the presence of island dwarfism (Maltese dwarf hippopotamus and dwarf
Duchy of the Archipelago fell to Sanudo after a five or six weeks' siege, despite the assistance rendered to the Greeks by the Genoese, Venice's main competitors. With the entire island occupied in 1210, Sanudo and his associates soon conquered Melos and the rest of the islands of the Cyclades, and he established himself as "Duke of Naxia", or "Duke of the Archipelago", with his headquarters on Naxos. Sanudo rebuilt a strong fortress and divided the island into 56 provinces, which he shared out as fiefs among the leaders of his men, most of whom were highly autonomous and apparently paid their own expenses.