J.Geogr.Sci.2023,33(4):719-740DOI:https://doi.org/10.1007/s11442-023-2103-0©2023SciencePressSpringer-VerlagSpatialpatternofglobalsubmarinecablenetworkandidentificationofstrategicpivotandstrategicchannelXIEYongshun1,2,*WANGChengjin1,21.InstituteofGeographicSciencesandNaturalResourcesResearch,CAS,Beijing100101,China;2.CollegeofResourcesandEnvironment,UniversityofChineseAcademyofSciences,Beijing100049,ChinaAbstract:Asakindoflarge-scaleconnectivityinfrastructure,submarinecablesplayavitalroleininternationaltelecommunication,socio-economicdevelopmentandnationaldefensesecurity.However,thecurrentunderstandingaboutthespatialpatternofglobalsubmarinecablenetworkisrelativelylimited.Inthisarticle,weanalyzethespatialdistributionandcon-nectivitypatternofglobalsubmarinecables,andidentifytheirstrategicpivotsandstrategicchannels.Themainconclusionsareasfollows:(1)Thespatialdistributionofglobalsubma-rinecablesissignificantlyunbalanced,whichischaracterizedbythefactsthatthedistributionofsubmarinecablelinesissimilartothatofsealanes,andtheagglomerationsoflandingstationsaredistributedunevenlyalongthecoastline.(2)Theconnectivitypatternofglobalsubmarinecablenetworkhasasignificantscaleeffect.Atthemicro,mesoandmacroscales,theconnectivitystructurepresentschainmodel,clustermodelandhub-and-spokemodel,respectively.(3)Thedistributionofstrategicpivotsandstrategicchannelsshowsapyramidalhierarchicalfeature.Singaporerankshighestamongallthestrategicpivots,whiletheGulfofAdenandtheStraitofMalaccarankhighestamongthestrategicchannels.Basedontheidentificationofstrategicpivotsandchannels,sixstrategicregionshavebeendivided,whichfacevariousnetworksecurityrisksandneedspecialattentionandvigilance.Keywords:submarinecablenetwork;spatialpattern;strategicpivot;strategicchannel;globalscale1IntroductionHistorically,theglobalsubmarinecablenetworkoriginatedinthemid-19thcentury.In1851,theFrenchtelegraphcompanyAnglodevelopedatelegraphcablecrossingtheEnglishChannel,whichopenedthepreludetoglobalsubmarinecommunication.Sinc...
