Għar Dalam cavern

Dear Friends
Solution caverns are a common phenomenon in areas where limestone is a common occurrence together with flowing water.  There are numerous old caves located all over Malta but the largest one may be Għar Dalam at the locality of Birżebbuġa.

The cave has historic and scientific significance because when the ice age occurred in Europe this did not affect Malta so much - however there was a substantial decrease in the depth of the Mediterranean which formed a bridging point allowing animal species like the dwarf elephant, deers, wolves etc. to cross over from Italy.  It is thought that during subsequent floods such species became entrapped in the cave and were thus found when the cavern was excavated.

Għar Dalam also contains a small number of stalactites/stalagmites, the formation of which is still an ongoing process as can be seen in the photos below.  The last image shows some pods from the carob tree which is a common sight (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceratonia_siliqua).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C4%A7ar_Dalam
http://heritagemalta.org/museums-sites/ghar-dalam

Saħħa,
Alexei