The transformational practices of China’s coastal geological survey guided by the principles of Earth System Science over the past 40 years

Abstract

The coastal zone plays a crucial role in the Earth system, connecting terrestrial and marine environments and serving as a hub for economic and societal development. In recent years, with the development of the economy and society and the increase of human activities, China's coastal zones confront a series of problems such as environmental pollution, biodiversity destruction, and disorderly development. To address these challenges posed by natural and anthropogenic factors in coastal zones to achieve sustainable development, conducting coastal geological survey guided by the principles of Earth System Science (ESS) is essential preliminary work. This paper presents in detail the important position and function of the coastal zone in the Earth system. It analyzes the new requirements for ESS in coastal geological survey developments while systematically summarizing China's achievements over 40 years from four perspectives: survey contents, survey techniques, research methods, and service concepts. Finally, this paper suggests that the future coastal geological survey guided by ESS should focus on the four dimensions of survey, monitor, research and service, while expanding the content of natural resources and environmental ecological survey, establishing a network of Earth system scientific observation stations, emphasizing the research on the coupling of coastal zones and human activities, and serving the integrated management of coastal zones and scientific decision-making, this ultimately will help to attain sustainable high-quality development periods within these regions.

Keywords

The coastal zone / Coastal geological survey / Earth System Science / Transformation / Sustainable development / Environmental Sciences / Environmental Science and Management

References

[1] BiermannF, BetsillMM, BurchS, DryzekJ, GordonC, GuptaA, et al. . The earth system governance project as a network organization: a critical assessment after ten years. Curr Opin Environ Sustain, 2019.

[2] BrusseauML. Sustainable development and other solutions to pollution and global change. Environmental and Pollution Science, 2019.

[3] C., G. A. J. . Recent work of geological surveys. Nature, 1910, 77: 183-186.

[4] ChenP. Earth system science: progress and prospect. Adv Earth Sci, 2003, 18: 974-979.

[5] CheongS. A new direction in coastal management. Mar Pol, 2008, 32: 1090-1093.

[6] ChonglongW, GangL, XialinZ, ZhenwenH, ZhitingZ. Discussion on geological science big data and its applications. Chin Sci Bull, 2016, 61: 1797-1807.

[7] CoenDR, JonssonFA. Between history and earth system science. Isis, 2022, 113: 407-416.

[8] Crossland CJ, et al (2005) The Coastal Zone — a Domain of Global Interactions. In: Crossland CJ, Kremer HH, Lindeboom HJ, Marshall Crossland JI, Le Tissier MDA. (eds) Coastal Fluxes in the Anthropocene. Global Change — The IGBP Series. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-27851-6_1

[9] DymnikovVP, LykosovV, VolodinEM. Mathematical simulation of earth system dynamics. Izv Atmos Ocean Phys, 2015, 51: 227-240.

[10] FuB, NiuD, YuG. The roles of ecosystem observation and research network in earth system science. Prog Geogr, 2007, 2611-16in Chinese with English abstract

[11] GobervilleE, BeaugrandG, SautourB, TréguerP, SomlitT. Climate-driven changes in coastal marine systems of western europe. Mar Ecol-Prog Ser, 2010, 408: 129-147.

[12] Guo Y, Xie H (2011) Research status and considering of coastal zone ecological environment of different areas based on rs. 2011 International Conference on Remote Sensing, Environment and Transportation Engineering 1540–1543. https://doi.org/10.1109/RSETE.2011.5964579

[13] HansomJD. Coastal sensitivity to environmental change: a view from the beach. CATENA, 2001, 42: 291-305.

[14] HaoA, LinL, ChenB. Coordinating land and sea coastal geological survey. Hydrogeology Engineering Geology, 2017, 44: 3(in Chinese)

[15] IgnaciukA, RiceM, BogardiJJ, CanadellJG, DhakalS, IngramJJA, et al. . Responding to complex societal challenges: a decade of earth system science partnership (essp) interdisciplinary research. Curr Opin Environ Sustain, 2012, 4: 147-158.

[16] InmanDL, BrushBM. The coastal challenge. Science, 1973, 181409420-32.

[17] InmanDL, NordstromCE. On the tectonic and morphologic classification of coasts. J Geol, 1971, 79: 1-21.

[18] JohnstonEL, HedgeLH, Mayer-PintoM. The urgent global need to understand port and harbour ecosystems. Mar Freshw Res, 2015, 66: i.

[19] KeP. China water resource crisis in the 21th century, Advances in Science and Technology of. Water Resour, 2000, 20513-16(in Chinese with English abstract)

[20] Kleidon A (2020) Understanding the earth as a whole system: from the gaia hypothesis to thermodynamic optimality and human societies. arXiv: Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics

[21] KremerHH. River catchment–coastal sea interaction and human dimensions. Reg Envir Chang, 2004, 4: 1-4.

[22] LawtonJ. Earth system science. Science, 2001, 292: 1965.

[23] LiY, ChenX, JiangX, LiJ, TianL. Numerical simulations and comparative analysis for two types of storm surges in the bohai sea using a coupled atmosphere-ocean model. Acta Oceanol Sin, 2019, 38: 35-47.

[24] Martyniuk A, Musiienko LA, Bekhta D, Veretko V (2023) Geology as the science of the earth and its connection with the soil science and science of the agrochemistry. InterConf

[25] MeeLD. Between the devil and the deep blue sea: the coastal zone in an era of globalisation. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci, 2012, 96: 1-8.

[26] MossingerJ, WhiteM, GoymerP. Coastal regions. Nature, 2013, 504: 35.

[27] PielkeR, SarewitzDR, ByerlyR, JamiesonDW. Prediction in the earth sciences and environmental policy making. EOS Trans Am Geophys Union, 1999, 80: 309-313.

[28] PollackHN. Global change and the earth system. EOS Trans Am Geophys Union, 2004, 85: 333.

[29] PressF. Earth science and society. Nature, 2008, 451: 301-303.

[30] ProgrammesTGEC. Earth system science: an integrated approach. Environ Sci Policy Sustain Dev., 2001, 43: 21-27.

[31] ReidWV, ChenD, GoldfarbLA, HackmannH, LeeYT, MokheleK, et al. . Earth system science for global sustainability: grand challenges. Science, 2010, 330: 916-917.

[32] RundleJB. Computational earth system science. Comput Sci Eng, 2000, 2: 20-21.

[33] SchlosserP, PfirmanS. Earth science for sustainability. Nat Geosci, 2012, 5: 587-588.

[34] Sievanen L, Campbell LM, Leslie HM (2012) Challenges to interdisciplinary research in ecosystem‐based management. Conserv Biol 26(2):315–23

[35] Steffen W (2010) Observed trends in earth system behavior. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change 1 26(2):315–23

[36] SteffenW, RichardsonK, RockströmJ, SchellnhuberHJ, DubeOP, DutreuilS, et al. . The emergence and evolution of earth system science. Nat Rev Earth Environ, 2020, 1: 54-63.

[37] StojanovicT, BallI, BallingerRC, LymberyG, DoddsW. The role of research networks for science-policy collaboration in coastal areas. Mar Pol, 2009, 33: 901-911.

[38] Syvitski JPM, Harvey N, Wolanski E, Burnett WC, Perillo GME, Gornitz V et al (2005) “Dynamics of the coastal zone,” in Coastal Fluxes in the Anthropocene: The Land-Ocean Interactions in the Coastal Zone Project of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme, ed. C. J. Crossland, H. H. Kremer, H. J. Lindeboom, J. I. Marshall Crossland, and M. D. A. Le Tissier (Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg), 39–94. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-27851-6_2

[39] TrimbleSW. The use of historical data and artifacts in geomorphology. Prog Phys Geogr, 2008, 32: 23-29.

[40] TurnerDD. Historical geology: Methodology and metaphysics, in Baker, V.R., ed. Rethinking the Fabric of Geology: Geological Society of America SpecialPaper, 2013, 502: 11-18.

[41] VerburgPH, CrossmanND, EllisEC, HeinimannA, HostertP, MertzO, et al. . Land system science and sustainable development of the earth system: a global land project perspective. Anthropocene, 2015, 12: 29-41.

[42] WainwrightJCastreeN, LivermanD, RhoadsB, DemerrittD. Earth-system science. Blackwell Companion to Environmental Geography, 2009OxfordBlackwell145-167

[43] WangX, ShenY. Paying more attention to the investigation of paleontological resources in regional geological survey in the era of earth system science. Geological Rev, 2020, 66: 829-835.

[44] WardND, MegonigalJP, Bond-LambertyB, BaileyVL, ButmanD, CanuelEA, et al. . Representing the function and sensitivity of coastal interfaces in earth system models. Nat Commun, 2020, 11: 2458.

[45] Wu Z (1998) The role of coastal zones in earth system science. Geoscience (Z1):52–57. (in Chinese)

[46] Wu Y (2000) On the status and role of coastal zone in the earth system. J Guangxi Univ Educ (Z1):52–57. (in Chinese)

[47] XiaoG, WangF, YinP, HuZ. Review and prospect of geological survey of coastal zones in china. North China Geology, 2022, 45: 92-100.

[48] Yang Y (1998) The best starting point for the current research of earth system science: on the establishment of the framework of coastal zone research. Progress in Geography

[49] Yongzhan Z, Dakui Z (1997) Coastal zone—the key area to the studies on global change. Oceanographic Bulletin 69–80. (in Chinese with English abstract)

[50] YuH, PengJ. Impact of human interventions on coastal and marine geological hazards: a review. Bull Eng Geol Environ, 2018, 77: 1081-1090.

[51] ZhuY, TanYBig data and geological big data, 2019BeijingGeology Press

[52] ZoneLOII, KremerHH, Le TissierMDA, BurbridgePR, Talaue-McmanusL, RabalaisNN, et al. . Land-ocean interactions in the coastal zone: science plan and implementation strategy. Environmental Policy Collection, 2005, 20: 1262-1268.

Funding

National Key Research and Development Program of China(2022YFC2806700)

Geological Survey Project of the China Geological Survey(DD20243539)

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

The Author(s)