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To assess the potential impact of plumes generated by deep-sea mining on the midwater ocean, this study systematically analyzed the flow field characteristics of the intermediate currents at the 1 000 m and 2 000 m in deep-sea mining areas of the Pacific Ocean (Western Pacific: Block C, Block M, Block CW, Block WJ; Eastern Pacific: Block A5, Block KW, Block EK, Block A12678, Block A3, Block A4) and predicted the zonal movement trend of midwater plumes. The analysis was based on the global Argo float trajectory and mid-depth current dataset from the China Argo Real-Time Data Center covering the period from August 1997 to October 2024, combined with data from 3 moored observation stations. The results show that: (1)The currents at the 1 000 m layer in the Pacific mining areas are mainly controlled by zonal currents, with the velocity of eastward jets being greater than that of westward jets. The velocity and direction of currents in the mining areas are sensitive to changes in latitude. (2)The eastward jets that affect the 1 000 m flow field in the Western Pacific mining area have the center located at 14°N (weak) and 18°N (strong). Under their influence, in the southern part of the Block M, the midwater plumes move eastward. In other areas, the midwater plumes move slowly westward.(3) The eastward jets that affect the 1 000 m layer of the Eastern Pacific mining areas have the centers located at 7°N and 9°N. They are stronger in summer and autumn, and weaker in winter and spring. (4)The flow field directional characteristics in the 2 000 m area of Block M, Block A5, Block KW and Block EK are the same as those in the 1 000 m layer, indicating that the depth affected by jets can reach 2 000 m.

The sediment source-to-sink system serves as a critical link connecting active carbon pools (e.g., atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere) with the stable lithospheric carbon pool, playing a core buffering role in the global carbon cycle. As the core area of marine sedimentary carbon sinks, delta-shelf regions account for over 80% of the global marine sedimentary organic carbon flux while occupying less than 8% of the global ocean area. The processes and mechanisms of carbon burial in these regions are crucial for global carbon balance. This paper systematically reviews the source composition and sedimentary flux characteristics of terrestrial organic carbon in delta-shelf sedimentary systems, focuses on elaborating organic carbon source-to-sink tracing technologies, remineralization processes and their dominant mechanisms, analyzes the impacts of human activities on sedimentary carbon sinks, and discusses marine negative emission and carbon sequestration enhancement schemes based on sediment management. Studies show that the heterogeneity of terrestrial organic carbon, physicochemical conditions of the sedimentary environment, and human disturbance collectively regulate the migration, transformation, and burial efficiency of organic carbon. Currently, the potential of sedimentary carbon sinks has not been fully exploited; thus, it is urgent to promote the integration of sedimentary carbon sinks into the global climate governance system through methodological innovation, mechanism deepening, and technological development, so as to provide scientific support and feasible paths for achieving the temperature control goals of the Paris Agreement.

This study was conducted to explore the contribution of silicon dissolution from beach sediments to the dissolved silicon budget in the coastal waters. From March to September in 2017, six field surveying cruises were conducted in the Muping offshore area (Yantai, China), the southern North Yellow Sea. By investigating monthly distributions and the averaged values of dissolved inorganic nutrients, monthly accumulation of dissolved silicate anomaly (ΔSi, as defined with the difference between dissolved inorganic nitrogen and silicate concentrations)of 1.5 μmol·L^-1 was observed in this offshore area with weak circulation from May to August. Further combining laboratory incubation experiments, theoretical calculation and field data analyses, It was found that the permeable particles in beaches could be dissolved, leaching active silicate to seawater, and increasing the offshore silicate concentration by 0.7~2.0 μmol·L^-1 every month, roughly consistent with the monthly accumulation rate of field ΔSi. Extrapolating the beach silicate-leaching flux to the length of the coastline rounding the Yellow Sea, the previously reported imbalance in silicate budget in this coastal sea could roughly be bridged. This study indicated again that the dissolving of permeable particles might contribute significantly to coastal silicate budget.

As a pivotal intertidal blue-carbon ecosystem, the seagrass-mangrove continuum is a focal point of contemporary blue-carbon research. In contrast to individual ecosystems, the continuum facilitates lateral carbon transport and redistribution between systems via tidal forcing—a process that profoundly influences regional and even global assessments of blue carbon budgets. However, the internal carbon cycling within the continuum and the multi-interface, multi-process coupling mechanisms of carbon sequestration remain a black box, representing one of the hot topics in blue carbon research. Here we systematically synthesize current understanding of carbon cycling in the seagrass-mangrove continuum, mapping key processes—from plant photosynthetic carbon sequestration, sediment carbon accumulation to aquatic carbon transformation, and gas exchange—within a novel, dual perspective of “vertical sequestration vs. lateral transport”. Special emphasis is placed on tide-driven lateral carbon fluxes (e.g., litter fall, DOC, POC, DIC), highlighting their central role in the continuum’s carbon dynamics. Given the complexity of intertidal habitats, future research on the coupled carbon cycling mechanisms within the seagrass-mangrove continuum remains a critical and underexplored field. In particular, key processes such as plant carbon fixation mechanisms, sediment carbon accumulation, and elemental exchange urgently require further investigation.

Deep-water sedimentary processes are key drivers that shape seafloor topography and actively participate in marine material cycles, thereby playing a crucial role in the formation of depositional systems and material cycling along continental margins and within deep-sea basins. The transport and transformation of carbon elements and carbon-containing substances are essential for sustaining organic life and maintaining climate stability. As an important end-member reservoir in this cycle, deep-sea sediments act as efficient sinks for atmospheric greenhouse gases, exerting significant regulatory effects on climate evolution over geological timescales. This study aims to elucidate the coupling mechanisms between distinctive deep-water sedimentary processes and organic carbon burial, providing a theoretical basis for establishing the “Shelf edge-slope-deep sea basin organic matter continuous transport system” and the “Deep-water organic carbon burial pyramid model”. By comprehensively analyzing representative deep-water organic carbon burial systems in global ocean basins, this research demonstrates that turbidity currents and bottom currents are the main dynamic mechanisms enabling the continuous transport of deep-water organic matter. The (micro)biological carbon pump, turbidity current carbon pump, bottom current carbon pump, and deep stratigraphic carbon pump together form the core framework for deep-water sedimentary carbon burial. Furthermore, the factors influencing deep-water organic carbon burial outcomes exhibit hierarchical characteristics. However, current research on deep-water organic carbon burial is still in its early stages, with limited case studies and mechanistic understanding, underscoring the urgent need to strengthen research on carbon burial processes in deep-water environments.

Using the measured data of extreme waves causing by 6 typhoons and 2 cold waves (caused by typhoon is called typhoon wave, caused by cold wave is called cold wave)during a one-year wave observation process in the Cangnan sea area of Zhejiang Province, the distribution and variation characteristics of wave parameters for each extreme wave as well as the typical characteristics of typhoon waves during Typhoon “Lekima” and “Mitag” were analyzed. The results show that the typhoon waves in the study sea area were significantly affected by the typhoon track and intensity, the stronger the typhoon intensity and the closer its proximity to the study area, the more significant and intense the process of typhoon waves, the higher the wave height and spectral peak density of typhoon waves. Both summer and autumn could be affected by extreme typhoons and lead to extreme typhoon waves. Extreme waves caused by cold wave occured both in winter and spring, of which intensity were directly affected by the intensity of cold waves, overall, extreme waves caused by cold wave were not as severe as typhoon waves. The duration of the impact of typhoon waves was two to three days, and the duration of the impact of extreme waves caused by cold wave was about 1 day; the maximum wave height and spectral peak density during extreme waves exhibited a synchronous development process of initially increasing and then decreasing. During the impact of Typhoon “Lekima”, the maximum wave height in the studied sea area was 10.80 m, with a maximum spectral peak density of 55.10 m²/Hz, the development and change process of wave spectrum was bimodal spectrum-unimodal spectrum-bimodal spectrum, and the development and change process of wave types was mixed waves dominated by swell-wind wave-mixed waves dominated by wind wave. During the impact of Typhoon “Mitag”, the maximum wave height in the studied sea area was 8.89 m, with a maximum spectral peak density of 36.37 m²/Hz, the wave spectrum was mainly composed of unimodal spectrum, with occasional bimodal spectrum. The wave type was mainly swell, with occasional mixed waves dominated by swell.

During satellite operation, sensor malfunctions can lead to irregular strip-like missing areas in imagery, which compromises the integrity of observed information. To address this issue in geostationary satellite remote sensing imagery, a reconstruction model based on convolutional neural networks (CNN)is proposed. The model’s performance is evaluated under different combinations of temporal input data to identify the optimal configuration of consecutive temporal auxiliary data. In the auxiliary data combination, (taking the generation time of the image to be restored as the current time t), when the model takes the previous four phases (t-4, t-3, t-2, t-1)and the previous and subsequent three phases (t-3, t-2, t-1, t+1, t+2, t+3)as inputs respectively, the restoration effect is excellent and can be used for data restoration and reconstruction in real-time and delayed scenarios respectively. Compared with models that use only a single time point as auxiliary data, the proposed model utilizing multi-temporal inputs demonstrates better reconstruction results and higher accuracy. The model is also applicable to the restoration of missing information in other geostationary satellite images.

Tidal flats are influenced by tides, experiencing periodic inundation and exposure, thus the inundation frequency reflects the elevation of tidal flats. This study utilizes time-series SAR satellite remote sensing data to conduct research on the remote sensing inversion method of tidal flat topography based on tidal level complementary cumulative distribution function. The key lies in proposing a new method for inundation frequency correction based on the weighting scale of remote sensing observation counts. And, based on the mathematical definition of inundation frequency, the functional relationship between inundation frequency and tidal flat elevation was explored, leading to the construction of a tidal flat topography inversion model based on the tidal level complementary cumulative distribution function. Then, the validation of the method was conducted in the Yueqing Bay. Based on the time-series Sentinel-1 satellite SAR remote sensing data, the tidal flat topographies for the periods 2019-2020 and 2021-2022 were successfully inverted. The accuracy assessment was conducted based on the corresponding period’s ICESat-2 satellite laser altimetry data. The root mean square errors (RMSE)of the tidal flat topographies for the periods 2019-2020 and 2021-2022 were 0.41 m and 0.51 m, respectively. Additionally, the RMSE of topography for the period of 2019-2020 using in-situ data was 0.48 m. The accuracy assessment suggest that the proposed method in this study can achieve high-precision tidal flat topography without field-measured topographic data. It is expected to be applicable to the monitoring of tidal flat topography in more regions.

Oyster reefs are one of the important coastal habitats. Over the past century, oyster reefs have been severely degraded worldwide. However, with the gradual recognition of the irreplaceable ecosystem service functions of oyster reefs, the significance of oyster reef conservation and restoration has become prominent in the global efforts to restore and protect degraded coastal ecosystems. This study systematically collects and collates the distribution information of natural oyster reefs and artificially restored oyster reefs in China, summarizes the main work and achievements in the field of oyster reef conservation and restoration in China since the beginning of this century. Combined with the author’s practical experience in the Wenzhou coastal zone protection and restoration project (oyster reef), the technical process of restoration is described in detail, with emphasis on the design and structure of the inclined support composite oyster reef and the artificial seedling attachment technology used in the restoration project. Corresponding suggestions are put forward, which can provide references for future oyster reef conservation and restoration work.

In 1988, the tropical Pacific experienced a strong La Niña event, during which significant equatorial Pacific easterly wind surges were observed. Analysis based on reanalysis data indicates that the intensity of the 1988 surges reached the highest level during 1982-2020. Linear regression results show that the equatorial Pacific SST gradient contributed 70.59% to the surge intensity index in 1988. Further examination of wind field characteristics after removing the influence of the SST gradient reveals that, apart from the enhanced spatial extent of the surge event in late February, both the frequency and magnitude of surges decreased significantly from mid-March onward. To gain deeper insight into the specific causes of the easterly wind surges, a typical case analysis was then conducted to investigate the triggering mechanism of a representative event. Composite analysis confirms that the strong easterly wind surge at the end of March 1988 was closely linked to the convectively active phase of a Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) event over the Maritime Continent, which contributed approximately 42.96% to the surge’s formation.

The global ionospheric model based on the global navigation satellite systems (GNSS)reference stations is currently the most widely used global ionospheric product. The analysis and evaluation of the reliability and accuracy of the global ionospheric model during magnetic storms is a necessary prerequisite for the rational use of the model. In this study, the data of the reference stations near the South China Sea were used to verify the reliability of the ionospheric vertial total electron content (VTEC)calculated from shipboard GNSS data, and the accuracy of the global ionospheric model in the South China Sea during magnetic storms was preliminarily analyzed and evaluated using the shipboard GNSS observation data and reference stations data. The results show that the ionospheric VTEC calculated from the shipboard data and the reference stations data have the same trend of change. During the magnetic storm, the error between the global ionospheric model value in the South China Sea region of China and the shipboard observation data and the reference stations (HKSL, PIMO)data increases, and the daily average RMSE values are 41.21, 27.40 and 30.86 TECU, respectively, which indicates that the disturbance of the ionosphere by the magnetic storm activity has led to a significant decrease in the accuracy of the global ionospheric model.

Black carbon (BC), a refractory organic carbon, is produced during the incomplete combustion of biomass and fossil fuels. Globally, an estimated 3%-10% of the annual BC production ultimately buried in marine sediments. As a critical component of the inert carbon pool, its spatiotemporal distribution and source-to-sink processes are essential for understanding global carbon cycling and climate evolution. Based on published BC data from nearly 1 000 marine sediment samples worldwide, this study reveals that BC contents vary widely, from 0.02 to 9.72 mg/g, with averaging 1.06 mg/g and accounting for an average of 15.1% of total sedimentary organic carbon. Spatial patterns are controlled by sediment grain size, organic carbon content, and depositional environments while temporal variations reflect the combined influence of climate change and human activities. Current knowledge of marine sedimentary BC sources predominantly assumes terrestrial dominance, with riverine transport, atmospheric deposition, and coastal erosion as primary input pathways. However, emerging evidence indicates that BC sinking fluxes in mid- to deep-ocean layers substantially exceed known terrestrial supply. This raises the possibility of potential unidentified sources. In addition, BC degradation and recycling processes within the marine systems remain poorly understood. Future research must prioritize source-to-sink dynamics in key areas (e.g., deep-sea environment) by integrating geochemical and organic molecular isotopic techniques to resolve BC cycling mechanisms and address current budget imbalances.

Total nitrogen (TN)is an important indicator for measuring water eutrophication, and understanding its spatiotemporal variation is crucial for marine ecological protection. This study selected the Pearl River Estuary-Jiangmen sea area as the research area and utilized TN measurement data from 2021 to 2023, as well as the MODIS data from 2003 to 2023 and the Sentinel-3 remote sensing images from 2017 to 2023. By selecting high-correlation band combinations and constructing random forest regression models to invert TN mass concentration, the spatiotemporal variation characteristics of TN mass concentration in the region from 2003 to 2023 were analyzed. The results indicated that the inversion model achieved good fitting accuracy (R²=0.797-0.931). From 2003 to 2023, the TN mass concentration in the Pearl River Estuary-Jiangmen sea area showed an overall decreasing trend, with relatively high mass concentrations from 2003 to 2015, followed by a significant decline after 2016. TN showed obvious dry/wet seasonal variations, and the variations within the year in the estuary and shallow water areas were also significant. This study revealed the trend and distribution characteristics of TN in the study area through remote sensing inversion, which can provide a basis and reference for the formulation of pollution control measures in the coastal waters.

Coastal wetlands have a strong capacity for carbon capture and storage, playing a significant role in mitigating climate warming. Vegetation type is an important factor influencing the carbon storage. In this study, we measured the soil organic carbon (SOC), lignin, stable carbon isotope (δ¹³C), grain size, and iron content in the surface soil of three typical vegetation habitats (Phragmites australis, Phragmites australis-Tamarix chinensis, and Suaeda salsa) in the Yellow River Estuary wetland, and analyzed the content, source, and degradation characteristics of organic carbon. The results showed that the SOC content in the three vegetation habitats of the Yellow River estuary wetland ranged from 0.34% to 1.85%, with the highest in P. australis, which had an average value of 0.94%. The SOC content was jointly affected by vegetation type and clay content. The three-end-member Monte Carlo model calculation found that the soil organic carbon in the three vegetation habitats was mainly from terrestrial (47.7%±13.2%) and plant sources (36.3%±15.0%), with a relatively low marine source (16.0%±14.2%) (S. salsa>P. australis-T. chinensis>P. australis). The soil lignin in the three vegetation habitats all showed a mixture or single source of woody and herbaceous tissues, indicating that part of the soil organic carbon in the P. australis and S. salsa habitats originated from the upstream Loess Plateau. Iron oxides and water in the soil might reduce the degradation of lignin due to their protective effect on organic carbon and their inhibitory effect on aerobic respiration of microorganisms. This study showed that there were significant differences in the distribution, source, and degradation characteristics of soil organic carbon among different vegetation habitats.

The new seawall ecological armour block is a type of face protection structure with both excellent wave dissipation performance and ecological function. In order to systematically evaluate its wave dissipation performance, this study carried out a two-dimensional wave flume physical modeling test using Zhoujiayuanshan Island in Zhoushan as the engineering background. The test systematically investigated the effects of wave period, wave height, relative water depth, wave steepness, breaking parameter, and block geometry (outer diameter and height), as well as model materials on the reflection coefficients under the action of regular waves. The results show that: firstly, the feasibility of using polypropylene random copolymer (PP-R) instead of foamed concrete in the physical modeling test is verified through the comparison experiments of nine working conditions, and the average difference in their reflection coefficient is only 1.17%. Secondly, for its wave dissipation performance, the reflection coefficient increases with increasing wave period, relative water depth and breaking parameter, and decreases with increasing wave height and wave steepness. Among all the tested conditions, the two types of blocks with outer diameter 7.5 cm-height 10 cm and outer diameter 10 cm-height 6.5 cm have the best wave dissipation performance, with average reflection coefficients of 0.395 and 0.382, respectively. Finally, the reflection coefficient formula for the six types of blocks is fitted based on the experimental data in this study. The formula has a root mean square error (RMSE) of 0.106 9, which is of high accuracy and our study can provide a certain reference for related engineering design.

The estuarine turbidity maximum (ETM) is a critical hub for the transport of particulate organic carbon (POC) from estuaries to ocean. To investigate the provenance and transport patterns of POC within the ETM, the Jiulong River ETM was selected as a research site. Hourly-resolved hydrological parameters, horizontally transported POC (collected via filtration), and vertically settling POC (collected using sediment traps) were systematically sampled. POC was analyzed for organic carbon isotopes, and the Monte Carlo end-member model was employed to analyze the relative contribution of different endmembers. Then the empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis was applied to examine and discuss the transport patterns and their driving mechanisms of POC within the ETM. The results revealed significant spatiotemporal variations in POC sources: surface POC was primarily of riverine sources (35.5%), while bottom POC was dominated by sedimentary sources (35.1%). Settling POC was also mainly derived from sedimentary sources, reaching up to 65% in high-flow flood tide periods. The bottom POC mass concentrations (0.8-8.4 mg·L^-1) showed a significant positive correlation with the magnitude of bottom tidal current velocity (absolute range: 0-0.5 m·s^-1). The peak settling flux of particles (227.1 mg·cm^-2·h^-1) occurred during low-flow periods (profile-averaged velocity <0.2 m·s^-1). Based on the results, it is find that tidal current velocity is a key factor regulating the sources and transport of POC within the Jiulong River Estuary’s ETM. It influences the horizontal transport, resuspension, and vertical mixing processes of POC through its magnitude, direction, and duration, thereby governing the provenance composition and mass concentration of POC. This control manifests specifically in three ways: a significant positive correlation exists between tidal current velocity and POC mass concentration, where high-velocity currents primarily drive the resuspension of sediments, making this process the main source of sedimentary POC; the alternating flow patterns of flood and ebb tides are the dominant control for the shifting predominance between river and marine POC; and velocity stratification (especially during the ebb tide stage) governs the vertical mixing intensity of POC from different sources. Moreover, from the perspective of how tidal current velocity regulates POC sources and transport processes within the ETM, this study summarizes the POC transport models for different tidal stages: During the flood tide, currents drive the input of marine POC. However, the high flow velocities cause significant sediment resuspension, resulting in the overall dominance of sedimentary POC. During the high slack tide, characterized by low flow velocities, particle settlement predominates, and sediment resuspension diminishes. This leads to a relative increase in the proportions of river or marine POC. Although the contribution of sedimentary POC decreases, it remains the dominant source overall. During the ebb tide, the outgoing currents facilitate the input of river POC. Meanwhile, the high flow velocities in the surface layer have a limited effect on adding sedimentary POC. The proportional distribution among the three POC sources is closely linked to the duration of the preceding high-velocity flood tide; generally, a longer duration leads to more pronounced dominance of sedimentary POC. During the low slack tide, which also features low flow velocities, settlement is again the primary process. The contributions of the three POC sources are generally comparable during this stage. These findings provide a valuable reference for a deeper understanding of the source-to-sink processes of POC within the ETM.

Island ecosystems are characterized by resource specificity and ecosystem vulnerability, thus, the scientific assessment of the impact of land use change on the carbon sequestration and other ecosystem service functions of island ecosystems is of great significance to the sustainability management of islands. The Dongtou Islands in Zhejiang Province represents a typical island ecosystem that has undergone developmental utilization such as land reclamation and conservation-restoration initiatives like the Blue Bay Project. It serves as an ideal case study for establishing assessment methods of how land use changes affecting the carbon sequestration service function of island coastal ecosystems and others, and for exploring the effectiveness of management measures. In this study, a land classification model based on XGBoost algorithm was used to obtain land use classification data of the Dongtou Islands in 12 phases (3 years as a phase)from 1988 to 2023 (with accuracy of 91.52%). On this basis, the changes in carbon sequestration amounts of major ecosystems, including woodland, salt marshes, and tidal flats, in the Dongtou Islands were calculated. A coupling coordination degree model of “economic development-land use-carbon sequestration function” was constructed by combining the socio-economic statistical data, and the degree of coupling coordination between the economy and ecosystem of the Dongtou Islands for more than 30 years was explored. The study found that from 1988 to 2023, the total land area of the Dongtou Islands increased by 34.97% due to natural silt deposition and sea reclamation efforts. The cumulative total of ecosystem carbon sequestration amount and net carbon sequestration amount for the main ecosystems amounted to 49.45×10⁴ t and 46.13×10⁴ t, respectively, basically showing an oscillating upward trend. Carbon sequestration mainly resulted from woodland and coastal wetlands (including tidal flats and salt marshes), with cumulative carbon sequestration amount of 25.44×10⁴ t and 24.01×10⁴ t, respectively. The “economic development-land use-carbon sequestration function” coupling coordination degrees of the Dongtou Islands were in a coordinated state from 2006 to 2023. Overall, the coupling coordination degree is greatly affected by the land use changes. Ecological restoration projects can enhance the comprehensive evaluation index of the land use and carbon sequestration function system, and then improve the coupling coordination degree. This study can provide a scientific theories and data foundation for the socio-economic development and ecological environmental protection planning of the Dongtou Islands.

The interaction between deep-ocean geostrophic current and seamounts can generate near-inertial internal waves (NIWs). While the intensity of these waves relates to the seamount height, its dependence on seamount width remains elusive. This study employs a two-dimensional, non-hydrostatic numerical model based on MITgcm to investigate the interaction of geostrophic current with deep-sea seamounts and examine how differing seamount widths influence the generation and dissipation of NIWs. Our results demonstrate that topographic forcing triggers robust nonlinear wave-wave interactions along the summit edges on the downstream flank of the seamount. This process generates energetic near-inertial internal waves that radiate away and develop, facilitating energy transfer from the geostrophic mean flow to the NIWs. For a fixed seamount height, narrower seamounts induce stronger near-inertial waves, characterized by more rapid wave development and decay. Moreover, the downstream flank exhibits significantly enhanced vertical shears within the near-inertial internal waves, driving greater turbulent dissipation compared to the upstream flank. Therefore, our findings highlight that, in addition to seamount height, seamount width is also a critical factor governing the generation and subsequent evolution of near-inertial internal waves.

Submarine cable and pipeline hold multifaceted strategic significance for national security, socio-economic development, and marine ecological environmental protection. This paper systematically reviews the evolution of China’s management policies for submarine cable and pipeline, traces the development trajectory of both the international legal framework and the domestic policy system. It analyzes the main existing issues such as administrative approval, protection management, spatial regulation, and national security. The study argues that with increasingly frequent marine development activities, lagging management mechanisms, and a complex and volatile international geopolitical landscape, submarine cable and pipeline face challenges including intensified competition for spatial resources and heightened security risks. The article proposes optimizing management policies across four dimensions: institutional restructuring, systematic protection, spatial governance, and security safeguarding. This approach aims to promote the construction of a forward-looking, efficient, and resilient governance system for submarine cable and pipeline. Such a system is essential to safeguard the implementation of China’s maritime strategy and ensure sustainable development.