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New investigations of the Krasnaya Gorka site suggest the emergence of pottery in the Late Pleistocene-Early Holocene in the Transbaikal region. Several new AMS dates obtained for the early ceramic cultural layer 2 indicate an age between 13900-10500 cal BP. The results of palynological studies of the Krasnaya Gorka deposits are given in the paper for the first time, and the Late Pleistocene-Holocene environmental changes were reconstructed. Pollen data obtained from the Krasnaya Gorka profile showed cold and dry Late Pleistocene environmental conditions. The regional climate became milder and more humid around 13900–12700 cal BP, which corresponds to the Allerod interstadial thus corroborating the radiocarbon age results. The warmest interval of the Late Pleistocene occurred around 13500 cal BP. Between 12700 and 11800 cal BP, cooling probably corresponds to the cold and dry event of the Younger Dryas. There is some stratigraphical in deposits of the Krasnaya Gorka archeological site. The deposits forming in the early Holocene and beginning of the middle Holocene most likely were removed by erosion. Warming and increased humidity occurred in middle of the late Holocene (2700-1800 cal BP). During the late Holocene, the climate was unstable. Beginning 400 cal BP, the vegetation of the region acquired its modern appearance. Some published materials concerning reconstructions of paleoclimate in the region of Ust’-Karenga XII, Studenoe I, and Ust’-Menza I are considered in the context of general characteristics of the region. Therefore, both palynological reconstructions and radiocarbon dates place the earliest ceramics from Krasnaya Gorka within the final stage of the Late Pleistocene – Early Holocene between 13900-10500 cal BP.

The landscape changes during the Medieval Warm Period were discussed for the Kuril and Sakhalin Islands, Primorye and the Amur River Basin. Some paleoclimatic parameters and shifts in landscape boundaries were estimated. The environmental changes on the Kuril Islands were manifested mostly in changes of areas occupied by the same plant communities that we see now in modern landscapes. The paleoenvironmental changes in the North and Central Kurils have been partly hidden due to volcanic ashfalls. On Simushir Island birch forests expanded at the expense of diminished tundra landscapes. On the South Kurils, the warming led to the increasing importance of broadleaf trees. In dark coniferous forests, the fir proportion increased. On small islands devoid of forests, the changes in the shrub and herb composition indicated warmer and less humid conditions. On Sakhalin, there were certain distinctions in the changes in the paleolandscape between the north, which was devoid of thermophilic elements in the forests and the south, which belonged to the zone of dark coniferous forests with an admixture of broadleaf trees. In Primorye, the warming caused an increase in the proportion of Korean pine and broadleaf species in the forests, as well as fir prevalence in dark coniferous forests. In the Amur River region, the warming involved considerable changes in the forests, which were expressed by an increase in the role of thermophilic species in the reduction of the proportion of dark coniferous species. The spread of broadleaf trees on the continental and island coasts could be influenced by warm currents amplifying the warming effect. In all regions, the warming was accompanied by a minor transgression. The sea level was higher than at present by ∼1 m, which resulted in the formation of low marine and lagoon terraces, the attenuation of eolian processes on the coasts, and the fixation of coastal dunes with the development of a thick soil.

The Murav'ev-Amursky Peninsula is one of the most densely populated and industrially developed regions in the Russian Far East and is included in Bolshoy (Greater) Vladivostok. Before its intensive development began approximately 150 years ago, the mountainous portion of the peninsula was covered by coniferous forests, with mixed broadleaved forests confined to the coastal lowlands. Vegetation was notably transformed during industrial development. The landscape evolution and development of native communities under Middle/Late Holocene short-time climate changes are of particular interest. The results allow the relative importance of natural and anthropogenic factors in landscape transformation to be determined. Integrated studies of marine and terrestrial sequences on the Murav'inaya Bay coasts form the foundation for reconstructing changes in the Murav'ev-Amursky Peninsula landscapes over the last 5950 cal. Yrs. Pollen and diatom analyses as well as radiocarbon dating provide insight into the landscape response to climate fluctuations during the Middle/Late Holocene. Changes in the depositional environments were essentially controlled by fluctuations in the level of the Sea of Japan, as illustrated by the reconstructed history of Cherepashye Lake, which formed ∼2000 cal. Yr BP and replaced a lagoon. Several stages in this evolution show variations in the degree of connection with the sea. The materials obtained made it possible to reconstruct the environments at the time when site Cherepakha-13 came into being. The site appeared under climatic conditions similar to those of today, and the sea level was below the present sea level (Zaisanovskaya archeological culture). The people of the Lidovskaya and Yankovskaya archeological cultures settled under a climate warmer than that at present, with a sea level above the present-day sea level, and broadleaved forests with Korean pine grew on the coast. During the Yankovskaya and Krownovskaya cultural period, the climate began to cool and the sea level dropped. These changes led to deterioration of living conditions of these people. In the 13th century, when a Jurchen settlement appeared at Murav'inaya Bay, the coastal plain was dominated by Korean pine-broadleaved forests, and mixed forests were poorer in composition than the earlier forest vegetation. Additionally, alder woodlands became widespread around the lake. In the 17th to 19th centuries, coniferous tree species (and Korean pine in particular) abruptly gained in importance in the vegetation of the peninsula. Secondary oak forests became widely distributed in the 20th century due to intensive human activities.

Changes in climate and landscapes of the steppe ecotone in South-eastern Transbaikalia in the late Holocene have been reconstructed using results of lacustrine and floodplain deposit studies as a basis. The depositional environments were reconstructed for the Little Climatic Optimum of the Holocene and for the Little Ice Age. A regular succession of processes, the lithogenous stage followed by soil formation, has been established on floodplains in small river valleys. The changes in the relief-forming process were mainly controlled by the climate. The dynamics of moisture supply was the main controlling factor, while the temperature fluctuations were of secondary importance.

The deposits of the Tohoku Tsunami were studied on the Kunashir, Shikotan, Zelenyi, Yurii, and Tanfil’ev islands. They were sampled immediately after this event from ice, half a year later, and one and a half years later. The sampling was accompanied by measurements of the runup heights and the description of the innudation zones. Sand and mud covers were recorded only in closed bays that were covered by ice. The tsunami waves broke the ice cover to provoke bottom erosion and peatland destruction in low coastal areas even under insignificant runup. The investigations included the analysis of the grain-size distribution in the deposits and the taxonomic composition of the microfossils, including benthic foraminifers, diatoms, and pollen assemblages. The marine diatom assemblages are dominated by sublittoral benthic forms accompanied by subordinate sublittoral planktonic, neritic, and oceanic species. The palynospectra include pollen and spores of the local island vegetation, allochthonous pollen transported by the tsunami wave and wind from adjacent areas, and taxa reworked from the upper Holocene deposits eroded by the tsunami. The examined sections have been revisited to estimate the degree of preservation of the tsunamigenic deposits.