Recently, the list of winners of the 2021 Ocean Science and Technology Awards was announced, with multiple scholars from the Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) receiving awards.

The project “Dynamics of oceanic plate subduction and controls on tectonic evolution of South China Sea” led by Jian LIN, Chair Professor of the Department of Ocean Science and Engineering (OSE) at SUSTech, Yongshun CHEN, Head and Chair Professor of the Department of OSE, and Research Associate Professor Zhiyuan ZHOU, won the special prize.

The project “Scientific drilling of the continental shelf and discovery of the South Yellow Sea,” completed by Qingsong LIU, Chair Professor of the Department of OSE, won the first prize.

Through interdisciplinary cooperation, the team that won the special prize carried out systematic research on the dynamic mechanism of oceanic plate subduction, implemented seismic experiments across the world’s deepest trenches, expanded the theory of oceanic plate subduction, and revealed the effect of subduction on the tectonic evolution of the South China Sea.

The team has developed the world’s leading 10,000-meter-level submarine seismic observation technology. Their research in tackling fundamental problems has promoted the formation of a research and development team with global influence.

The project was jointly completed by 11 institutes and organizations, including the South China Sea Institute of Oceanology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (SCSIO, CAS), the Second Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources (SIO, MNR), and SUSTech.

The project that won the first prize was headed by the China Geological Survey (CGS), led by the Qingdao Institute of Marine Geology (QIMG), and involved more than 20 scientific research institutes from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), the Ministry of Education (MoE), the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR), and other bodies to form a multidisciplinary team.

The research, which lasted for more than ten years, carried out full core drilling to obtain high-precision continuous records and answered major scientific questions such as the specific time of when the Yellow River and the Yangtze River first flowed into the sea, the lower boundary of the Quaternary system and sequence framework, and the Mesozoic-Paleozoic stratigraphic framework.

Its scientific and technological achievements have been promoted in many sectors and applied in basic research and teaching in numerous universities and institutions, providing important support for oil and gas exploration in the south Yellow Sea.

The Ocean Science and Technology Awards are a comprehensive award to honor the annual advancement in the national marine industry. The award was set up by the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) and managed by the National Office for Science and Technology Awards (NOSTA). The establishment of these awards is important in promoting and recognizing the efforts of individuals and teams in their innovative and progressive advances in ocean science and technology.

The awards received by the scholars of the Department of OSE at SUSTech demonstrate this discipline’s academic influence.