The Technical Training Course on Continental Shelf Delineation for Mozambique, hosted by the State Key Laboratory of Submarine Geoscience, was concluded on June 5. Senior technical specialists engaged in continental shelf delineation from Mozambique’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy, and Ministry of Agriculture, Environment and Fisheries completed all training modules and passed the final assessment. Researcher Tang Yong, Chinese‑member of the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, and Professor Mahanjane, Mozambican‑member of the same Commission, jointly presented the trainees with completion certificates.
SIO holds a solid foundation for cooperation with Mozambique concerning continental-shelf-related work. Joint international cruises for continental margin investigations were carried out by both sides in 2016 and 2021 respectively, generating robust data to support Mozambique’s studies on continental shelf delineation and the analysis of continental-margin tectonic evolution. Following the 2023 training course on data processing for the China-Madagascar,China-Mozambique international joint cruise, this training marks another example of exporting specialized marine technologies in the continental-shelf domain to African countries.
During this training programme, the team from the Centre of Exclusive Economic Zone and Continental Shelf of the Key Laboratory of Submarine Geoscience established a systematic training framework integrating theoretical lectures, technical practice and case-based discussions. The curriculum covers core technologies for continental shelf delineation, with focused sessions on cutting-edge techniques including multi-channel seismic data processing and interpretation, gravity-magnetic data processing and inversion analysis, OBS data processing and deep crustal structure analysis, as well as continental-margin tectonic-sedimentary evolutionary models. Combined with the core provisions of Article 76 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the Scientific and Technical Guidelines of the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS), team members and participants carried out joint desktop exercises and case-study discussions covering criteria for delineating the outer limits of the continental shelf, determination of the foot of slope and the base of the continental slope, calculation of the 1-percent sediment-thickness formula, the outer edge of the continental margin, and collation of delineation-related data. Joint research was also conducted on cutting-edge scientific issues such as the tectonic evolution dynamics of the Mozambican continental margin and the evolution of deep-sea sedimentary environments.
This technical training has effectively addressed the technical challenges Mozambique faces in the delineation of its outer continental shelf, and further consolidated the regular cooperation between our institute and Mozambican marine institutions. At the closing ceremony, Ms. Cesar, participant representative and Director of National Institute For the Sea and Boundary (IMAF) of Mozambique’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, expressed her gratitude to SIO and the Key Laboratory of Submarine Geoscience. Going forward, China and Mozambique will continue to deepen practical cooperation across joint scientific research on continental shelf delineation, international academic exchanges, and cruise data-sharing, to jointly foster a new landscape of high-level and in-depth China-Mozambique marine science and technology cooperation.