A resource from the sea: a spatial study of salt pans around the Maltese Islands

Abstract

The Maltese Archipelago lies on the latitude between 35.48° and 36.05° North of the Equator, and in the middle of the Mediterranean sea. These two facts make these islands ideal for extracting sea salt. The warm dry summers, and surrounding sea water, encouraged our ancestors to exploit the coasts. The lithology of the land, passing through geomorphological processes, formed pits in the relatively soft sedimentary rocks, especially the Globigerina limestone beds. Solar salt could have been produced without the need for people to manufacture it. The low land of Ghadira has for centuries been marked in maps as a salt pan which could have filled with the high Spring tide and evaporated slowly all through summer. This is a typical way of producing solar salt in Malta. These factors could have encouraged its production, even more when this mineral was considered precious through its importance for food preservation and for the curing of fish, when refrigeration was still unknown. Later through the centuries, the Knights of Saint John in Malta, realised its potential and invested money for its production and storage. People living around the coast, attempted their luck in this industry too, with the result that the evidence and excellent craftsmanship are still preserved on our shores, by the rock hewn salt pans.