A total of 67 submarine landslides were discovered in an area of 18 square kilometres of the Maltese seabed through a local study by a marine geologist.

Some of them happened in the past on very gentle slopes and formed cliffs about 50 metres high over an area equivalent to five times the size of Comino.

Others are still taking place but move very slowly.

The discovery was made using advanced seafloor exploration techniques in a study by Aaron Micallef, who lectures at the University’s Department of Physics.

A high concentration of submarine landslides were also documented in an area of 370 square kilometres of seabed located to the northeast of Marsaxlokk.

Some of the landslides were powerful enough to erode through extensive rock walls.

In his study, Dr Micallef pointed out that submarine landslides constituted a major hazard to seabed infrastructure, such as pipelines and cables, and were also a potential source of tsunamis.

However, Dr Micallef said that “because of their relatively small size and low speed”, the landslides did not seem to constitute a significant or imminent tsunami hazard even though this could only be determined “precisely once more detailed analyses are carried out”.

This is not the first time that submarine landslides were reported close to the Maltese islands.

Dr Micallef said submarine landslides “are a poorly understood process” and there was an urgent need to map them. Studies were needed to estimate the possibility of their occurrence and whether they posed a risk to the islands and surrounding seabed infrastructure, he added.

The study related to this discovery was presented at the biennial conference on Submarine Mass Movements and their Consequences held in Kiel, Germany, and was funded by Eurofleets and Marie Curie Actions.

Earlier this year, Dr Micallef published another study charting the submerged landscape around the islands, revealing how the archipelago would have looked 20,000 years ago.

That study, a collaboration between a number of Italian universities and research institutions and the Maltese University, revealed the sea level in the Mediterranean was 130 metres lower than today and Malta, Gozo, Comino and even Filfla were connected.

The archipelago was two-and-a-half times larger than today and Dingli cliffs towered 380 metres above sea level, while Valletta was 10 kilometres inshore.

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