Malta’s geological map has been updated after 29 years.

The new map, surveyed by the British Geological Survey (BGS), is over double the accuracy of the previous one at a scale of 1:10,000.

The last time Malta’s geological formations were mapped was in 1993 by H. M. Pedley, scaling Malta at a rate of 1:25,000.

In 2016, Pedley’s map was digitised by the continental shelf department and was made free to the public on the department’s website.

With the aim of updating the 29-year-old information, the department issued a tender in 2021 and awarded the survey contract to BGS who then carried out various field surveys between 2021-2022.

The 2022 geological map of Malta. Photo: Continental shelf department.

Funded by oil exploration licences funds, the updated map allows users to navigate through the various themes or layers that define the island’s geological landscape and is available free of charge.

It will continue to be updated as more information becomes available aiding academics, geoscience students, architects and people with curious minds.

“The continental shelf department is a department which is run by just a handful of people... one of the smallest in the government.

“Nevertheless, I would say that we tend to underappreciate their work and their effort,” Finance Minister Clyde Caruana said.

The continental shelf is 70,000 square kilometres, a large area when compared to Malta’s size and the department is responsible for all its interests.

It handles the licenses related to oil exploration and, in the future, their responsibilities may include geothermal surveys as technology continues to advance, Caruana said.

Extending past Malta’s land borders, Caruana described the shelf as an “exclusive economic zone” that will be explored in the coming months.

“If we want to invest in renewable energy projects, we have to look beyond,” Caruana said.

The Malta Chamber of Geologists has, however, taken a dim view of the map update, saying it is replete with errors and lacks transparency about who created it.  

"Such errors and secrecy happen when matters that pertain to geologists are left in the hands of persons who are not geologists," chamber president Peter Gatt wrote about the geological map update.