Advances in interdisciplinary ocean geoscience and technology

Ocean geoscience is a highly integrated and interdisciplinary field that plays a critical role in understanding the interaction between Earth’s lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, biosphere, and anthroposphere. Recent years have seen tremendous progress in global ocean research, driven by rapid advancements in deep-sea manned and unmanned submersibles, ocean drilling, seafloor observatories, big data assimilation, and supercomputing simulations. Representative examples of breakthroughs are highlighted in this work: (1) Probing sub-seafloor processes. A 10,000-meter ocean-bottom seismometer array has achieved high-resolution imaging of the deepest ocean on the Earth—the Challenger Deep of the Mariana Trench, revealing the role of key tectonic and hydrological processes within the subduction zone. The first sub-ice seafloor seismic and magnetotelluric experiments were successfully conducted at the Arctic Gakkel Ridge, providing significant insights into the dynamics of ultraslow seafloor spreading. (2) Exploration of seafloor resources. Near-seafloor investigations employing underwater robotics and multi-sensor systems have been carried out in areas of hydrothermal vents and cold seeps at global locations, including the Southwest Indian Ridge. These efforts have combined geophysical, oceanographic, chemical, and biological observations with extensive seafloor sampling. (3) Interdisciplinary research of complex catastrophic events. High-resolution simulations integrating ocean observations with supercomputing modeling have made it possible to fully model earthquake-induced seafloor deformation, tsunami propagation, and ocean basin-scale transport of the Fukushima Power Plant-derived radionuclides associated with the 2011 Tohoku earthquake. Among the world’s three major oceans, the Indian Ocean is still relatively underexplored. Major scientific challenges include elucidating crust-mantle interaction, air-sea dynamic coupling, large-scale marine hazards, and responses of ecosystems to major environmental changes, all of which require interdisciplinary collaboration. Future efforts should focus on developing intelligent unmanned observation platform systems, big data and digital twins, and AI-driven hazard modeling. Meanwhile, higher educational reforms should emphasize fostering a new generation of students and young scientists with a solid background and strong critical analysis skills to accelerate technological innovation.