On June 8, the Third International Symposium on Indian Ocean Earth Sciences was held in Shenzhen.

The two-day event attracted more than 150 well-known experts and scholars in the field of marine geosciences from 20 countries and regions to conduct in-depth exchanges and discussions on hot topics such as the Indian Ocean earth system and marine environmental disasters.

More than ten faculty members from the Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) participated in the symposium, including Jian LIN, Chair Professor of the Department of Ocean Science and Engineering and member of the Academia Europaea, and Xiaofei CHEN, Chair Professor of the Department of Earth and Space Sciences and Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

Professors Jian LIN and Xiaofei CHEN were invited to serve as co-chairs of the symposium.

Jian LIN pointed out that the Indian Ocean is one of the world’s three major oceans and plays an extremely important role. The Indian Ocean monsoon affects China’s climate change pattern, and it is also a high-incidence area for disasters such as the world’s most serious storm surges, large earthquakes, tsunamis, and floods, which directly affect society and economic development.

The Indian Ocean has the largest and most complex ocean-land-atmosphere system on the planet. It requires scientists worldwide to collaborate to accelerate research on core scientific issues and find solutions that benefit future generations.

He noted that Chinese scientists have made important contributions to international research on the Indian Ocean, including long-term marine observations, ocean circulation, storm surges, the interaction between the Indian Ocean monsoon and the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP), and the impact of low-oxygen areas on marine ecosystems.

Prof. Jian LIN’s research team is currently conducting in-depth research on tsunamis and early warning in the North Indian Ocean, which is of great significance to port and transportation safety. He added that Shenzhen, as an ocean city, due to its proximity to the South China Sea, has a unique advantage in leading scientific research related to the Indian Ocean.

During the two-day symposium, experts and scholars focused on the importance of the Indian Ocean, Indo-terrestrial- atmosphere interactions, Indian Ocean marine ecosystems and hypoxic zones, and marine geological processes and disasters. They held in-depth discussions and exchanges on the Alliance of International Science Organizations (ANSO) and strengthening international cooperation.

It will enhance the international influence of Shenzhen and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) and promote the development of Shenzhen into an international ocean city.

The symposium was endorsed as an official activity of the United Nations (UN) Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, and hosted by the South China Sea Institute of Oceanology (SCSIO) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

It was co-organized by SUSTech/Shenzhen Ocean University, China-Pakistan Joint Research Center on Earth Sciences, UN Decade Collaborative Center on Ocean-Climate Nexus and Coordination Amongst Decade Implementing Partners (DCC-OCC), Global Ocean Negative Carbon Emissions (Global-ONCE), and the Shenzhen Talent Institute.

The event co-chairs were SUSTech’s Jian LIN and Xiaofei CHEN, along with Dake CHEN, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Jiabiao LI, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.