Transparent West-Pacific: Frontier advances in Earth System Science

The West-Pacific hosts a well-developed trench-arc-basin system characterized by intense fluid–solid interactions, making it an ideal region for studying multi-sphere interactions within the Earth system. Research on cross-sphere dynamic processes and material-energy cycles in the West-Pacific not only represents a core frontier in Earth System Science, but also crucial to addressing major strategic needs, such as global climate change response, sustainable use of marine resources, and protection of the deep-sea environment. This article highlights key advances achieved under the Major Program on West-Pacific Earth System Multispheric Interactions (WESPMI), in areas including multi-scale oceanic interactions, cross-sphere material exchange, plate subduction and deep Earth carbon cycling, and high-resolution Earth system modeling. It further emphasizes that future studies should focus on building an integrated stereoscopic observation system and a kilometer-scale Earth system modeling framework, deepening the understanding of cross-sphere coupling mechanisms, and promoting the deep integration of artificial intelligence with Earth System Science—thereby achieving a “transparent” understanding and accurate prediction of the West-Pacific Earth system.