Allochthonous biofossil distribution in the blanket peat bog of Bolshoy Shantar Island was used to analyze atmospheric circulation anomalies in the north-western Okhotsk Sea over the last 12.6 ka. The main aim of this study was to determine periods of intensification of deep cyclones and extreme storms. The composition of bioaerosols is significantly influenced by atmospheric zonal and meridional transport anomalies associated with anomalies of the monsoon system of Northeast Asia, atmospheric fronts and cyclone trajectories. Marine diatoms enter the peatland from the sea during extreme storms and record the passage of sea cyclones in the autumn-winter, whereas the distribution of allochthonous pollen indicates the intensity of continental cyclones. We used Pinus pumila pollen as an indicator of heavy snowfalls and winter cyclone activity. Fifteen phases of extreme storms were identified. Changes in ice coverage also played an important role in bioaerosol emission. During cold periods, emissions of bioaerosols mainly occurred in the open sea, whereas during warm periods, emissions occurred near the coast. The recurrence and intensity of cyclones during the cold seasons depends on displacement of the Siberian High and Aleutian Low. Periods of continental cyclones intensified in spring-summer and coincided with periods of active winter cyclogenesis.

The Late Holocene phases of aeolian processes have been reconstructed on the basis of dune fields construction. The palaeoenvironmental studies were targeted to following problems: 1) to determine the periods of higher and lower activity of aeolian processes; 2) to establish the age of aeolian deposits and buried soils; 3) to retrace the deve­lopment of coastal landscapes. The age was determined by radiocarbon dating of paleosols and tephrostratigraphy. The correlation of tephra was performed using data on the volcanic glass chemical composition. The dunes formed during the cooling accompanied by a minor regression. Six buried soils found in the dunes reflect stabilization and overgrowing of dune fields. The longest period of dune stabilization began after a cold event 2800–2600 cal yr BP and lasted until the Little Ice Age. Paleosols contain the tephra of large volcanic eruptions on Urup (Kolokol volcano), Simushir (Zavaritsky volcano) and Iturup (tephra). Pollen analysis allows us to retrace the development of coastal landscapes. Thickets of dwarf pine developed during cooling, birch forests spread in the Medieval Warm Period, and herb meadows were widely represented on the dunes. Human impact on the coastal palaeovegetation was found. Aeolian sedimentation was high during the Little Ice Age. One of the factors of dune reactivation during the Little Ice Age was increased winter storminess associated with the East Asian winter monsoon. Evidence of active cyclogenesis is the increasing proportion of allochthonous pollen. The modern reactivation of aeolian processes is associated with human activity and storm erosion of dunes.

Six stages of vegetation development have been identified on the basis of a palynological study of floodplain deposits of the Tsukanovka River (southern Primorye). The first stage is transitional from the medieval warm period, the next four stages are comparable with the climatic phases of the Little Ice Age. The sixth stage in the development of vegetation reflects the modern warming in the 20th century, when modern landscapes have been formed with the participation of the anthropogenic factor. The specific development of a complex of atmospheric-hydrospheric processes, which developed under the direct influence of long-term variations in solar activity, was the reason for the emergence of the Little Ice Age. The coldest phase in the territory of southern Primorye occurred at the end of the 17th century and coincided with the Maunder Grand Minimum of solar activity (1645–1715), it is also characterized by a decrease in humidity. The development of forest vegetation in the valley of the Tsukanovka River recorded alternating warm and cold episodes during the Little Ice Age. In relatively warm phases, the proportion of oak and other broad-leaved trees increased in the forest vegetation in southern Primorye, while in cold phases the proportion of alder increased. In the first half of the XVI century on the territory of southern Primorye, an increase in humidity due to an increase in precipitation is noted. The correlation of paleoclimatic rhythms identified on the basis of spore-pollen analysis results during the Little Ice Age in southern Primorye, with dendrochronological data for the southern Sikhote-Alin and other regions of the northern hemisphere, as well as with historical evidence from neighboring China, has showed the synchronism of the onset of climatic events in the regions, which reflects their global nature and global scale.