The article continues the author’s series of publications on global Holocene activation. The research was carried out on the interface between geology and meteoritics within the context of the Earth pulsating expansion model, whereby the Earth began to evolve in a compression mode in the late Pleistocene. At the Pleistocene – Holocene boundary, the Earth was subjected to a massive pummeling of large asteroids and changed its orbit, moving closer to the Sun. From this time on, the compression increased sharply, crustal processes intensified causing an upsurge of continental orogeny, and global transgression intensified. Astroblemes are considered as constituents of the host geological systems. They are indicators of the onset of the Holocene activation. Evidence is presented of most of the known astroblemes being formed at the Pleistocene – Holocene boundary by a single stream of asteroids. Using astroblemes in South Africa and Eurasia as examples, their relationships were studied with Holocene orogenic systems – with their tectonics, volcanism, fluid dynamics, and drainage network. The global Holocene activation is shown to significantly change the natural environment, thereby triggering an unprecedented explosion in the development of human civilization.

The results of our research conducted at the junction of geology, speleology and archeology are presented. Every cave is considered as an integral part of the enclosing geological system. Representative examples show the nature of the interrelationships of caves with structures of the continental crust of Eurasia, Africa and North America. The research was performed within the framework of the pulsationally expanding Earth model. According to this model, at the Pleistocene–Holocene turn, our planet was bombarded by a stream of asteroids, after which it switched to a pulsed compression mode, with a sharp activation of orogeny at the Holocene beginning. At that time, caves with their Paleolithic–Neolithic cultural layers were deformed. Their deformations are considered as Holocene activation indicators.

This article continues the series of publications on the indicators of Holocene activation. Using the examples of the Volga and Amur rivers with their tributaries and the Razdolnaya River, the interaction of the river network with the Holocene orogenic system of the Alpine–Himalayan and Pacific mobile belts of Eurasia was studied. The river network is conformal to their orogenic system. Examples of the control of river valleys by shear systems of active faults are given. The influence of the rivers on the formation of erosional relief was studied. It is shown that loose sediments of the Mesozoic-Cenozoic rifts thrown up in the Holocene are actively destroyed by the river network, with a shear of up to many hundreds of meters. The rises on the riftogen framing and their internal rises, composed of strong pre-Mesozoic rocks, are weakly eroded. Many of them have a contrasting, nonequilibrium relief. The study was conducted within the framework of the pulsatingly expanding Earth model developed by the author.

Based on our previously performed calculations of the intensity of Earth’ irradiation at the top of the atmosphere with high spatial and temporal resolution, it has been confirmed that the sea level rise over at least the last 130,000 years (during the Eemian / Mikulino interglacial and the late Pleistocene – Holocene) is associated with warm phases of climate precession. Based on our calculations of summer/winter irradiation intensity extremes during climate precession phases in the Northern Hemisphere, the formation dates of dropstones (Heinrich layers ) have been refined. These dropstones are correlated with climate precession extremes and are recorded in ocean sediments during both interglacial and glacial periods. Sea level evolution and ocean sedimentation over the past 130,000 years are primarily determined by glacioeustatic fluctuations associated with temperature changes, which are primarily controlled by variations in the intensity of Northern Hemisphere irradiation within the climatic precession cycle. At the same time, the weak presence of a precessional cycle is noted in the benthic δ18 O stack of the orbitally tuned LR04 scheme/model, which currently forms the basis of geochronology and climatostratigraphy of Late Pleistocene and Holocene. The beginning of the next warm phase of climate precession is expected around 5,500 years AD. This phase will peak around 11.5 kyr AD, when the next significant sea level rise is expected.

Statistical characteristics of changes in the intensity of annual and seasonal irradiation at the upper boundary of the atmosphere of 5-degree latitude zones of the Arctic region in the Late Pleistocene were obtained. No relationship was found between the intensity of annual and seasonal irradiation of 5-degree latitude zones and the eccentricity of the Earth's orbit, but a positive noticeable relationship was found between the intensity of summer irradiation and a negative relationship between the intensity of winter irradiation and a change in the tilt of the axis and the longitude of the perihelion. The maximum range of variations in winter irradiation intensity in the Arctic with geographic latitude in the Late Pleistocene noticeably (by 10,211 W/ m2) decreases, while the maximum range of variations in summer irradiation intensity with geographic latitude slightly (by 4.3 W/m2) increases. The correlation coefficient of summer irradiation intensity and perihelion longitude in the Late Pleistocene decreases with geographic latitude, and increases with the tilt of the rotation axis. The modulus of the correlation coefficient of winter irradiation intensity with perihelion longitude decreases, and increases with the tilt of the rotation axis. The maximum range of changes in the intensity of annual and seasonal irradiation of 5-degree latitudinal zones by 1–2 orders of magnitude in the Late Pleistocene exceeds the maximum variations in the δ18 O isotope-oxygen analysis of benthic foraminifera, which shows the groundlessness of using its values to solve problems of Late Pleistocene geochronology and climatostratigraphy.

The thermal evolution of the permafrost in the sedimentary section of the Tyumen superdeep SG-6 well has been numerically reconstructed using the ICE2020 software package, which is part of the GALO flat basin modeling system. The thermal evolution of the sedimentary strata in the last 3.5 My is considered as the final stage of the basin modeling, whose formation began with continental rifting in the Late Permian. Abrupt climate changes in the late Pliocene–Holocene led to a decrease in the rock temperature by 15–20°C in the upper 1–1.5 km of the SG-6 sedimentary section. The maximum thickness of the permafrost in the study area was about 711 m, reached 2.6 Mya. The maximum thickness of the permafrost for the last ice age (23–18 thous and years ago) was 412 m, reached about 14.5 thousand years ago. According to our modeling, the modern base of the permafrost is at the depth of 311 m and is degrading with the rate about 13 m/1000 y. The results of our calculations with a database of climatic data limited to the last 50 and 100 thousand years differ markedly from the modeling results with the complete database for the last 3.5 My.

The paleoclimate evolution curve of the South Kara Sea basin over the past 250 Myr, which is necessary for numerical reconstruction of its thermal history, was plotted using data from a large number of works devoted to studying of the paleoclimate of the Arctic sector of the West Siberian Basin. For the period from 260 to 65 Mya, the construction of the paleoclimate curve was based on a series of paleotectonic reconstructions of the studied area. The reconstruction of the climatic history of the Cenozoic was based on a detailed study of climate variations in Eurasia over the past 65 Myr. The history of sharp climate fluctuations in the last 3.5 Myr was based on information from a large number of works devoted to studying of the regional paleoclimate in the Pliocene-Quaternary. Studies published in the literature speak in favor of the limited size of the glacial covers formed within the South Kara basin. This makes it possible to neglect the effect of the porosity of sedimentary rocks from the glacial cover load in comparison with the similar effect of the load of sediments removed by erosion in the Miocene. Any correction to the paleoclimatic data due to the thermal influence of the ice sheet with its limited thickness should not exceed the error in determining the data themselves. Peculiarities in the change in temperature and the salinity of pore waters with depth determine the existence of various forms of permafrost in the shelf areas of the Arctic seas.

The article shows that each period of the evolutionary process of the biosphere formation on Earth corresponds to one form of soil formation, namely: underwater (“hydrozemic”), swampy (“atmozemic”), and terrestrial (“lithozemic”). The ancient swamp soil formation is considered, in addition to biomass deposition, to take part in the formation of the oxygen-containing composition of the planet’s gaseous envelope and the release of organisms from the aquatic environment to land. It has been determined that the process of paludification and swamp soils in the past and at present did and do perform the same biospheric functions and should include the entire genetic profile up to the basal rock in the concept of “peat soil”. On the example of the central part of Western Siberia, the process of paludification in the Holocene period is considered. This process is defined as a single, irreversible, progressive process of conjugated changes in their biotic and abiotic components. This ensures autonomy in the development and preservation of mires as a special type of the biogeocenotic cover of Earth. It is shown that the differences in the mire complexes of different botanico–geographical zones and subzones reveal the chronological boundaries of the transformation of swamp biogeocenoses of eutrophic types into mesotrophic and oligotrophic ones. It has been determined that the process of paludification in the taiga zone of the West Siberian Plain is of aggressive nature and the expected warming is a temporary warm period in the interval of cyclical climate.

The reason for writing this article was the off-site meeting of the museology section of the Moscow Society of Naturalists on December 22, 2022, to get acquainted with the exhibition «Past and Present of the Fauna of the Vladimir Region» permanently operating in the House of Culture in Strunino. The initial task of the paper was to analyze the situation with the moving to a new location of the well-known scientific, educational and entertainment museum «Ice Age» in Moscow. The museum was established in 2004 on the basis of the richest paleontological specimens collected by F.K. Shidlovsky National Alliance during multiple expeditions to the northeast of Yakutia, Chukotka, Altai and the Southern Urals. In 2004–2014, the museum functioned as a scientific and exposition center in pavilion No. 71 at the All-Russian Exhibition Center, which not only popularized knowledge about the animals of the Ice Age, but also provided unique exhibits for research by paleontologists. After several years of searching, the creator of the museum finally found a suitable place to accommodate large exhibits. It was necessary to decide how, by continuing the comprehensive educational and research activities, to ensure a wide attendance of the museum in a place remote from Moscow. Thorough studying of the information showed how much the task is broader and more serious than it seemed at first glance. The activity of an outstanding energetic person, devoted to a significant social goal, turned out to be connected with roots deeply rooted in the historical past of the country. Support for a specific undertaking has become important for the implementation of a comprehensive project of the museum, cultural, scientific and educational nature, up to the prospects for the development of the region. And at the same time, the identified problem can be considered as an example of a person’s involvement in the history of the country and responsibility for his/her actions.