Geographical techniques and analysis of coastal scree slopes (rdum areas) : case study - il-Qarraba

Abstract

The coast is a narrow zone where the land and sea overlap and directly interact (Waugh, 1990: 109). It presents one of the most dynamic environments on earth as it is affected by terrestrial, atmospheric and marine processes. The importance of the coast lies in its various functions: it provides a habitat for distinct ecosystems, acts as a buffer zone to storm wave action, is a primary recreational resource and a reservoir of sediment and mineral deposits. A distinct branch of study - coastal geomorphology - deals primarily with the study of coastal processes. It has proved to be an extremely important tool in the hand of scientists, planners, policy makers and politicians, whose objectives revolve either around the conservation and study of the coast or else its development. This research tries to investigate from a geographical perspective, one particular coastal landform - scree slopes, known in Maltese terminology as rdum, located mainly on the western coast of Malta. The study examines the nomenclature and cartographic representation of the landform, and discusses coastal classification with an emphasis on the Maltese littoral. The main focus lies in the investigation of one particular rdum area - ll-Qarraba (NW Malta) where research is based on fieldwork sessions. The data gathered was statistically analysed.