Coastal morpho-stratigraphy and Holocene relative sea level changes at Tuapaat, southeastern Disko Island, central West Greenland

The geomorphology of a coarse clastic coastal landscape at Tuapaat (69°24'N 52°36'W), southeastern Disko Island, central West Greenland, is described, and a coastal morpho-stratigraphy of the landscape is constructed. ¹⁴C ages on marine shells, whale bones, peat and gyttja are used to construct relative sea level changes throughout the Holocene. The emergence of SE Disko Island occurred in the early part of the Holocene. The Holocene marine limit is situated ca. 80m a.s.l. Between 4.7 and 1.0ka BP, the relative sea level approached the present sea level and it has probably been below present sea level between 4.7 ka BP and the present. The morpho-stratigraphy in the lowest part of the coastal landscape at Tuapaat suggests a complex late Holocene relative sea level history which includes at least 3-4 transgressions during the last ca. 2.5 ka.     

Holocene shoreline displacement in southernmost Spitsbergen

Three radiocarbon dates on marine organic material from southernmost Spitsbergen are presented, making it possible to compare the Holocene shoreline displacement in this area with that of other areas of Svalbard. The most distinct raised beach feature is the large beach ridge terrace about 10 m above sea level which most probably is the result of a marine transgression ca. 6500 years ago. Dating of 2700-year-old laminaria from about 2 m above sea level demonstrates a small rising of the land during the youngest Holocene.     

Middle-Late Pleistocene polycyclic evolution of a stable coastal area (southern Apulia, Italy)

The Otranto–Leuca coastal tract is marked by the presence of numerous sea caves placed close to present sea level. They are located generally at the back of a shore platform covered by a sequence of breccia deposits, marine sediments and speleothems. At Grotta di Masseria dell'Orte, marine cemented sands rest on a narrow shore platform at about 6.2 m above mean sea level and are covered by speleothems older than 185 ka. At Grotta del Diavolo, which is mostly filled by breccia deposits, three beach levels have been detected at about 3.0, 3.5 and 5.9 m above msl. They are either covered by or overlie speleothems that yield an U/Th age of 340, 78 ka and between 170.3 and 146.5, respectively. Geomorphological evidence and radiometric ages indicate that the area after a period of uplift has been tectonically stable since the last part of the Middle Pleistocene so that marine landforms close to the present shoreline underwent a polycyclic evolution. The sedimentary fills of sea caves formed during Middle-Late Pleistocene glacial stages, when arid or semiarid conditions promoted the removal of regolith and the development of thick breccia deposits. During Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 9.3, 5.5 and 5.1, cave sediments were partially eroded whereas beach layers and related speleothems developed. These are, in fact, the only marine isotope stages marked by a sea level position which in this Mediterranean region was either close to, or slightly higher than, the present one.     

The Late Weichselian and Holocene shoreline displacement on the west-central coast of Svalbard

Three well-developed raised marine shorelines along Nordenskioldkysten have been studied and correlated with the shoreline displacement since the last deglaciation. The marine limit of 64 m in the area is of Late Weichselian age and has been dated to 10, 900- 11, 000 years B.P. An intermediate level at 50 m is estimated to be 10, 600-10, 000 years old and demonstrates a sea level stagnation probably caused by a glacier readvance in eastern Svalbard during the Younger Dryas. A Holocene transgression culminating shortly after 6, 000 years B.P. has been stratigraphically demonstrated, and it probably correlates with the Tapes transgression of Scandinavia. No pre-Late Weichselian marine levels are found, and the large rebound can be attributed only to a Late Weichselian glaciation.     

Holocene shoreline displacement at Agardhbukta, eastern Spitsbergen, Svalbard

An emergence curve based on nine radiocarbon dated samples of mosses, shells, whale bones and driftwood has been constructed for Agardhbukta. Beach sediments and delta deposits were found up to c. 50 m above sea level, and the oldest date goes back to about 10, 000 yrs BP. However, the possibility of a higher marine limit cannot be excluded. The Agardhbukta curve shows a nearly linear uplift during the entire Holocene. It differs from the western Spitsbergen curves, where a transgression occurs, and is more similar to curves from areas further east in the Svalbard archipelago.     

全新世以来台湾西南部古环境演变

台湾位于欧亚大陆板块与菲律宾海洋板块的交会处,地体构造较为活跃．同时,受到古气候冰期与间冰期交互作用的影响,造成海平面上下变动,使得古环境产生变化．本研究利用钻孔岩心做地层分析、环境分析及岩心碳同位素定年等资料,了解台湾西南部地壳的活动性、环境演化与各时期海平面变动的历史．海岸线的变动,除了受到海平面变动的影响,亦受到构造沉降活动的控制．综合地壳升降以及海平面升降的数据,推估全新世6200 a BP、3100 a BP和l800 a BP3个海进时期当时的海岸线位置,分别为现今高程20m、10m及6m的位置,这些海平面的变化导致海岸线的迁移,同时影响着先民聚落遗址的变化．并且,利用前述数据推估得出嘉南平原与浊水溪冲积扇的沉积速率大约在3．9～4．5mm／a之间．     

禹门口南黄河东岸沙丘初步研究

在禹门口南山西省河津、万荣县境内黄河阶地上发育了一些固定、半固定沙丘,注入黄河的汾河将这些沙丘分成了南北两部分。北部的沙丘多在海拔400m左右,高出现代黄河约35m,位于黄河的第二级阶地上,由两条南北向的沙垄和两垄之间分布的抛物线形沙丘构成特殊的景观。这些抛物线形沙丘一般高度约7~8m,背风面突出,迎风坡坡度一般为15°~20°,背风坡坡度一般大于40°。风沙堆积下伏的河流堆积物的¹⁴C年龄为26.40±0.8kaBP,表明沙丘形成于距今26ka以来。南部沙丘海拔高度近500m,高出现代黄河水面150m,覆盖于黄河第三级阶地之上。一个天然剖面揭示,第三阶地的底部为黄色中粗砂与灰绿色粉砂粘土互层,中部为灰黄色黄土,顶部为黄色风沙层。在黄土地层中可以识别出S₁古土壤和位于风沙堆积下面的可能为L₁SS₁的弱成土层。由此推断风沙堆积于距今3万a以来。黄河阶地上的沙丘是在特殊的地区和特定的时期;强大的风力、丰富的沙源和气候变干条件下形成的。虽然东岸沙丘已是固定、半固定沙丘,但沙化仍然是该地区的一个问题。由于3~4a前开始在丘前洼地栽种苹果树,破坏了下风向沙丘迎风面的植被,造成了原来已固定沙丘的活化,在沙丘顶部生成了新的小抛物线形沙丘,高度大于1 m。沙丘上裸露的树根指示表土已被侵蚀0.3 m。南部沙丘区的风蚀作用也很强,例如,万荣县裴庄乡西范村北一片柿树林的树根由于风蚀已经裸露1.2 m。     

Paleolimnology of three Jackman Sound Lakes,Southern Baffin Island,based on down-core diatom analyses

Three lakes, informally named Lakes Inqua, Instaar and Mercer, from the Jackman Sound area in Southern Baffin Island were cored. The elevation of the three lakes are 36 m above high tide (aht), 10 m aht and 1 m aht. The cores from Lakes Inqua and Mercer penetrated the marine/lacustrine boundary; the core from Lake Instaar is estimated to have come within ca. 5 cm of this boundary. In addition, grab samples and water samples were retrieved from the lakes. The cores have been ¹⁴C dated (AMS). Emergence of the three lake basins from the sea occurred approximately 8650 BP (Lake Inqua), 8630 BP (Lake Instaar) and 7900 BP (Lake Mercer, averaged date). This suggests a very rapid rate (>5 m/100 yrs) of glacio-isostatic rebound for this area. Down-core analyses of diatom assemblages indicate that the paleolimnology in the three lakes was similar. The diatom analyses suggest a change in climate between approximately 8000 and 6000 BP, which is also reflected in the marine record from the same area, and the onset of the neoglacial period around 4500 to 3800 BP. A decrease in diatom-inferred pH is evident in the lakes' development and can probably be related to the general change of the watershed vegetation with time.     

RAISED MARINE TERRACES ALONG THE GULF OF ADEN COAST OF SOMALIA

Mapping in the Galweda-Elayu area of northern Somalia has revealed depositional and erosional marine terraces at elevations of approximately 16 m, 8 m, and 2 m. These terraces vary from 0–2300 m, 200–2200 m, and 0–800 m in width, respectively. Sediments exposed in stream-valley walls demonstrate that the two higher terraces were formed by marine transgressions followed later by regressions to below present sea level. Beach ridges on the terraced alluvial fan at the mouth of togga Galweda imply that sea level and/or land elevation varied by at least 6 m during the formation of the 16-m terrace and by at least 3 m during the formation of the 8-m terrace. ²³⁰Th/²³⁴U ages of corals suggest that the 8-m terrace was formed during deep-sea isotope substage 5c (105 kyr B.P.) and the 2-m terrace during substage 5a (80 kyr B.P.). A 7-kyr-old coral from above the present storm beach on the outer flanks of the 2-m terrace suggests that sea level in the Gulf of Aden was close to its present level by the middle Holocene. No material suitable for dating was recovered from the 16-m terrace, but on morphological grounds and based on marine-terrace elevations elsewhere in the Red Sea-Gulf of Aden rift zone, we believe that the 16-m terrace was formed during isotope substage 5e (132–120 kyr B.P.), when global sea level was about 6 m above present.     

Holocene regional and local vegetation history and lake-level changes in the Torneträsk area, northern Sweden

A combination of pollen and macrofossil analyses from six lakes at altitudes between 370 and 999 m above sea level (a.s.l.) in the Torneträsk area reflect the Holocene vegetation history. The main field study area has been the Abisko valley at altitudes around 400 m a.s.l. The largest lake, Vuolep Njakajaure has annually laminated (varved) sediments. The chronology and sedimentation rates in the pollen-influx calculations are based on varve yrs in this lake and on radiocarbon dated terrestrial plant macrofossils in the other lakes. A strong increase of mountain birch (Betula pubescens ssp. tortuosa) during the early Holocene with a tree-line c. 300 m above the present, indicates that the summer temperature was c. 1.5 °C higher than today, assuming that the land uplift has been 100 m since then. Scattered stands of pine (Pinus sylvestris) may have been growing in the area immediately after the deglaciation but a forest consisting of pine and mountain birch expanded first at low elevations and reached the eastern parts of the Torneträsk area at c. 8300 cal BP and the western parts at c. 7600 cal BP. The highest pine-birch forest limit was not reached until 6300 cal BP (110 m above present pine limit). Warm and dry conditions during the pine forest maximum led to lowering of the water level documented in Lake Badsjön in the Abisko valley about 1-1.5 m lower than today. Pine and mountain birch were growing at the maximum altitude until c. 4500 cal BP. Assuming that land uplift has been in the range of 20-40 m since the mid-Holocene, this implies that the temperature was then c. 1.5-2 °C higher than today. Rising lake-levels and lowering limits of pine and mountain birch since c. 4500 cal BP indicate a more humid and cool climate during the late Holocene.     

Holocene trophic state changes in relation to sea level variation in Lake Blanca, SE Uruguay

Paleolimnological data are presented relating trophic development to sea level variation in Lake Blanca, a small (0.6 km²), coastal fresh waterbody in southern Uruguay. Using a sediment core that extended to 7300 years BP, analyses of grain size, thin sections, organic matter, carbonate, total carbon, nutrients, diatoms and palynomorphs, allowed us to infer changes in trophic state and paleosalinities, which were closely related to Holocene sea level variation. Higher trophic states were observed during regressive events, most probably due to increases in runoff and erosion as regression progressed. Four diatom association zones (DAZ) were identified in the sediment core. The basal core section pre-dated the first Holocene marine transgression, contained no diatoms, chrysophyte cysts or non-siliceous microalgae, and showed C/N ratios values higher than 20. Thus, it is likely that the system exhibited terrestrial characteristics. In the second section (6500–2200 years BP, following the first Holocene transgression), there was dominance of marine/brackish diatom species. The lowest trophic states of the core were observed in this section. The third section (2200–1100 years BP), represented the system as it became separate from the Atlantic Ocean, and showed a dominance of brackish/freshwater species and increases in trophic state were observed. In the last section (after 1100 years BP), the system became fully freshwater as no marine or brackish diatom species were found, but a trend to oligotrophication was observed, probably due to nutrient depletion. However, after 1967 AD, eutrophication intensified because of forestry and soil fertilization in the catchment. Pollen association zones (PAZ) allowed us to identify four sections. Below 250 cm (2200 years BP), the core contained no pollen grains as redox potential and pH values were not conducive for pollen preservation. After 2200 years BP (when the system started to separate from the ocean), xerophilic taxa typical of coastal dunes colonized the catchment. Only after 1100 years BP (after fully freshwater conditions established) pollen grains of trees were observed.     

Relationships between Trophic State, Paleosalinity and Climatic Changes during the First Holocene Marine Transgression in Rocha Lagoon, Southern Uruguay

Paleolimnological data are presented on trophic development, climatic change and sea level variations in Rocha Lagoon, a 72 km² coastal lagoon in southern Uruguay. Using a sediment core that extended from 7000 to about 3700 yr BP, analyses of organic matter, carbonate, diatoms and chrysophyte cysts were used to track the early Holocene paleolimnological conditions of Rocha Lagoon. Opal phytoliths were also counted and identified, both temperature and humidity indices were calculated, and Opal Phytolith Association Zones (OPAZ) were identified by performing Principal Coordinates Analysis (PCO). Diatom Association Zones (DAZ) corresponding to marine/brackish and brackish/freshwater episodes were closely related to changes in trophic state. Those DAZ representing marine/brackish stages exhibited a lower trophic state than those DAZ dominated by brackish and freshwater diatoms. This highlights that during the first Holocene marine transgression, Rocha Lagoon did not continuously exhibit marine/brackish conditions as reported in previous papers. Instead, three brackish/freshwater episodes related to sea level variation and changes in humidity were identified. The first episode, by ~6000 yr BP, was related to sea level change as no significant changes in either temperature or humidity indices were observed. The second episode, between 5000 and 4400 yr BP, was related to both a sea level decrease and an increase in humidity, as a transition from humid to very humid climate was inferred. Concomitant decreases in salinity and increases in trophic state were also observed. The third episode, after ~4000 yr BP, was related to the end of the first Holocene regressive phase when sea level was slightly below present levels. Further decreases in salinity and increases in trophic state were detected. The paleoclimatic trends inferred in this study were in close agreement with other regional studies on climatic change, as cool temperatures were inferred. However, major changes in humidity were also detected. A humid to very humid climate was inferred for ~7000–4500 yr BP, but the occurrence of a semiarid/arid climate was inferred for ~4500–3700 yr BP. Our data suggest that during transgressive and regressive events there might be higher frequency and lower amplitude sea level oscillations that might lead to changes in salinity and trophic state of coastal aquatic systems. Such oscillations could only be tracked by high resolution analyses of sedimentary records and could be best interpreted with complementary data on paleoclimate. In addition, microfossils such as diatoms and opal phytoliths were shown to be very sensitive to such paleoenvironmental changes.     

Former glacial lakes of the Bunger Hills,Antarctica

The Bunger Hills in East Antarctica occupy a land area of approximately 400 km². They have been exposed by Holocene retreat of the Antarctic ice sheet and its outlet glaciers. The accompanying sea level rise flooded the marine inlets that now separate the northern islands and peninsulas from the major part of the hills. During deglaciation the continental ice sheet margin retreated south‐eastwards with several temporary halts, during which ice‐dammed lakes were formed in some valleys. These lakes were maintained long enough to permit formation of beaches of sand and gravel, and for the erosion of shore platforms and low cliffs in bedrock. Around the western end of Fish Tail Bay impressive shoreline features 20 m above sea level define a former ice‐dammed lake that was 5.5 km long. A similar 7 km long former ice‐dammed lake was formed at Lake Dolgoe. The more extensive and deeper glacial lake is revealed by well‐developed and preserved shoreline features cut at 29 m which is 16 m above present lake level. In addition, several small ice‐dammed lakes existed temporarily near Lake Shchel and in the valley to the west. Lake Fish Tail existed more than 6,900 ¹⁴C years ago and Lake Shchel probably more than 6,680 ¹⁴C years ago. It is inferred that the shore platforms and beaches were formed by lake ice and wave action over considerable periods when the lakes were impounded by steep cold ice margins. There appears to have been a balance between meltwater input and evaporative loss from the lakes in the cold dry continental climate. There is no evidence for rapid lake level fluctuations, and there was very little input of clastic sediment. This resulted in poor development of deltaic and rhythmically laminated lake floor deposits. It is suggested that such deposits are more characteristic of ice‐dammed lakes formed in association with wet‐based temperate ice than those associated with dry‐based polar ice.     

Past environmental change and seawater intrusion into coastal Lake Lilaste,Latvia

Diatoms, organic matter and magnetic susceptibility in a 10-m-long sediment sequence from coastal Lake Lilaste, Latvia, were analysed to evaluate Holocene environmental changes related to past sea-water intrusions. Lake Lilaste is located ~1 km from the present sea coast in an area with a low uplift rate and a threshold altitude of 0.5 m a.s.l. It was thus considered to be an appropriate site to study the influence of past sea level fluctuations on the lake and its sediments. Variations in diatom community composition, along with sediment lithostratigraphy, show that a shallow, nutrient-rich freshwater lake existed there during the early Holocene. The first brackish-water diatoms appeared concurrent with a sea level rise ca. 8700 ± 50 cal a BP, but long-term, intermittent inputs of brackish water were observed between 6700 ± 40 and 4200 ± 80 cal a BP. During those time spans, diatoms indicate increased nutrient concentrations and high conductivity, a consequence of occasional mixing of brackish and freshwater that promoted biological productivity. Lilaste was isolated from the sea at 4200 ± 80 cal a BP, after which a stable freshwater environment, dominated by planktonic diatoms such as Aulacoseira ambigua, A. granulata, A. islandica and A. subarctica, was established. At 400 ± 50 cal a BP, planktonic diatoms were gradually replaced by Fragilaria spp., indicating the beginning of anthropogenic impact. The reconstructed relative water-level curve from the lake coincides with the eustatic sea level curve from 6800 ± 40 cal a BP onwards. There was a distinct increase in abundance of brackish-water diatoms when the sea level reached the threshold of Lilaste, which at that time was probably about 3 m lower than the present sea level. According to radiocarbon-dated shifts in the diatom community composition, the Litorina Sea transgression was a long-lasting event (ca. 2200 years) in the southern part of the Gulf of Riga, where the land uplift rate was near zero. It culminated more than 1000 years later than at other sites with higher uplift, in the northern part of the Baltic Sea.     

Quaternary sedimentation on the Woronora Plateau and its implications for climatic change

Shallow upland valleys at 300–500 m above sea level on the Woronora Plateau near Wollongong, NSW, have been Infilled by sandy sediment during the Quaternary. Within these valleys hygrophilous shrubs and sedges occupy permanently wet, fine‐grained organic sediments and more open sedgeland occupies sandier, better‐aerated but still organic‐rich sediments. Sediments lying directly above sandstone bedrock have radiocarbon ages ranging up to 17,000 years BP, but appear very similar to sediments presently accumulating. Indeed, at one site sediments ranging in age from about 6,000 to 11,700 years BP were identical in organic contents and grainsize characteristics to contemporary deposits. Limited evidence derived from plant fossils and pollen in the sediments indicated no major vegetation change during the past 11,700 years. Hence there is no evidence to suggest that the environment of the Woronora Plateau has changed substantially in late Pleistocene to Holocene times. Furthermore, the considerable range in the basal dates of the sediments indicates that the onset of sedimentation at any site does not necessarily correspond to changes either in climate or in the sedimentary processes operating within particular catchments.     

Lithospheric flexure as a control on stratal geometry and fades distribution in Upper Cretaceous rocks of the Alberta foreland basin

Facies distributions, stratal geometry and regional erosional bevelling surfaces in Upper Cretaceous (Cenomanian-Santonian) strata of the Alberta foreland basin are interpreted in terms of high-frequency (probably eustatic) relative changes in sea level, superimposed on longer-term basin-floor warping, related to episodic tectonic loading. Thick marine shales correspond to periods of rapid subsidence whereas thin but extensive strandplain sandstones record rapid progradation during slow subsidence. Westward-thickening wedges of coastal plain strata were deposited during initial downwarping of a near-horizontal strandplain, prior to marine transgression. Surfaces of erosional bevelling beneath which between 40 and >160m of strata have been removed extend at least 300 km from the present deformation front and are interpreted to reflect forebulge uplift in the east. Uplift appears to have lagged about 0.25-0.5 Myr behind the onset of accelerated loading. Thin marine sandstones which grade westward into mudstone are interpreted as material winnowed from the crest of the rising forebulge. Subsidence and/or westward migration of the forebulge allowed the sea to flood westward across the eastern flank of the eroded forebulge. The transgressive shoreface cut asymmetric notches which were later blanketed by marine shales which lap out from east to west. The two unconformities which embody the largest erosional vacuity are veneered locally with oolitic ironstone which accumulated in a shallow, sediment-starved setting on the crest of the forebulge. The consistent pattern of erosional bevelling and lap-out of transgressive shales might be interpreted as evidence that the forebulge migrated towards the thrust load over a period of <1 Myr.     

Upper Pleistocene and Holocene paleosalinity and trophic state changes in relation to sea level variation in Rocha Lagoon, southern Uruguay

Paleolimnological data are presented on trophic development in relation to sea level variation in Rocha Lagoon, a 72 km² coastal lagoon in southern Uruguay. Using sediment cores that extended to ∼20,000 yr BP, analyses of grain size, organic matter, carbonate, total carbon, nutrients, and diatoms allowed us to infer changes in trophic state and paleosalinities, which were closely related to Holocene relative sea level variation. Higher trophic states were observed during regressive events, most probably due to increases in runoff and erosion as regressions progressed. Diatom Association Zones (DAZ) were identified in both cores. Those DAZ corresponding to transgressive events were dominated by marine/brackish taxa and relatively low organic matter and nutrient values, while those DAZ corresponding to regressive events showed increases in brackish/freshwater diatoms and both organic matter and nutrients. Although the lagoon formed after the first Holocene marine transgression, our data indicate the existence of a marine/brackish aquatic system during upper Pleistocene (i.e., before 15,000 yr BP), but by ∼20,000 yr BP, the system was still likely to be a semi-arid terrestrial system.     

香港地区晚第四纪环境的几个问题

香港的“潜在”植物区系及顶极植被与爪哇及印度相似。香港的红树林组成逊于海南但胜于闽南。Ｑ３＾２海相层中有现今仅见于海南的陆均松和海松。Ｑ４海相层中有红茄冬、角果木、榄李，而现今仅见榄李。中全新世香港有海滩岩发育。上述现象表明香港属于热带北部，历史上热带性比今更强。香港及邻近海域１１个剖面揭示Ｑ３＾１以来有３个海相层，经历３次重大的海陆变迁。据验潮记录，近三四十年海平面上升率为１．６４±０．２５ｍｍ     

A Tertiary-Quaternary section at Sarsbukta, Spitsbergen, Svalbard, and its foraminifera

Tertiary and Quaternary deposits outcrop in the coastal cliff of Balanusviken at Sarsbukta in Vest-Spitsbergen. The Tertiary deposits appear by their foraminifera to belong to the Middle to Upper Oligocene. The Quaternary deposits consist of an upper part of Late Pleistocene to Holocene age, and a lower part which had previously been considered Middle Weichselian of age. Its foraminiferal assemblages suggest a higher age (Late Saalian, Eemian?). This lower part of the Quaternary deposits is related to a series of raised beaches with an upper limit at SO m above present day sea level. They were probably formed during the Eemian, and have not been distorted by later glaciation. The present study is based on sediment samples collected from the coastal cliff of Balanusviken, and particularly from that of Balanuspynten, Sarsbukta, Spitsbergen, during the summer expedition of Norsk Polarinstitutt in 19Sø.     

全新世中期西辽河流域聚落选址与环境解读

通过x2 检验等方式提出,全新世中期西辽河流域聚落对海拔400~500 m 高程区域选择倾向十分明显,在这一高程内又偏重于距河床10~40 m 的坡地,兴隆洼、赵宝沟以及红山文化期这一特征最突出,夏家店下层文化期聚落位置表现出以400~500 m 高程区为核心向高、低两个方位发展。针对上述聚落环境选择特征指出：① 根据人类生存方式可将西辽河流域划 出林地与草地两大地带,两者的交界处即400~500 m 高程区域内以坡地为主的林缘地带,兴隆洼、赵宝沟文化期人类的采集、渔猎活动主要集中在这里,随着红山、夏家店下层文化期 原始农业的发展,聚落选址从原来的林缘地带向草地甚至林地扩展,前后不同考古文化期的 聚落位置界定了自然环境的空间属性与地域差异。② 西辽河流域受地带性环境因素制约,即使在全新世大暖期林缘地带的动植物资源也并不丰富,仅能满足人口密度极低的兴隆洼、赵宝沟文化期人类获取食物的需求,红山文化以后随着人口增殖原始农业逐渐发展起来。③ 全新世中期西辽河流域聚落密度很低,人口规模在这一地区的环境容量之下,农业开发尚未对西辽河流域带来明显的环境扰动。