The physical characteristics of limestone shore platforms on the maltese islands and their neglected contribution to coastal land use development

The shore platforms of the Maltese Islands, as both conspicuous landforms and participants in the coastal land use development on the islands, have never been properly investigated in order to provide a clearer understanding of their role in the built-up development of the Maltese foreshore. This chapter details the physical characteristics of these landforms, their spatial distribution, lithological controls and process-based interactions within a micro-tidal Mediterranean coastal regime. In discussing the historical development of coastal land use of the Maltese Islands, this chapter aims to illustrate how various local aspects of foreshore development have both been driven by and impacted on shore platforms. Archaeological and historical evidences point to a long history of platform use which dates back to millennia. However, pressures to develop and encroach on these landforms with further land use are ever present, in a relentless drive to maximise the amenity value of the coast and address the pressures imposed by a growing population and expanding tourism-based economy.