Northern South Atlantic (7,821–6,094 BCE): Early Holocene Warming and Growing Green Patches

Geographic & Environmental Context

The subregion of Northern South Atlantic includes Saint Helena and Ascension Island. Cliff-bound coastlines, talus aprons, and a few pocket beaches edged uplifted volcanic plateaus; crater basins and lava fields structured interior microhabitats.

Climate & Environmental Shifts

Early Holocene warming raised sea level toward modern stand, drowning some glacial benches and reworking beaches. Trades remained persistent; SSTs warmed; dust flux slackened relative to glacial highs. Convective showers and cloud-cap moisture marginally increased effective precipitation on windward slopes.

Subsistence & Settlement

No humans. Vegetation thickened in gullies and cloud-capture zones—ferns, herbs, grasses, with incipient shrublands on Saint Helena’s higher ridges. Seabirds expanded nesting on stabilized ledges; turtles found higher beach crests as seas rose; reef flats hosted diverse invertebrates and fish nurseries.

Technology & Material Culture

Holocene microliths and early ceramics developed elsewhere; island surfaces remained entirely natural—lava, soil crusts, shells, and guano.

Movement & Interaction Corridors

Gyre circulation and trades continued to shuttle marine life; pelagic predators tracked eddies spun from the South Equatorial Current. Seabird flyways stitched west Africa, Brazil, and these mid-ocean outliers.

Cultural & Symbolic Expressions

None human—only ecological “rituals” of colony return and turtle nesting seasons.

Environmental Adaptation & Resilience

Plants exploited fog drip and hollows; seabirds shifted colonies after storm rockfalls; turtle nesting migrated upslope with rising seas; nutrient loops (guano → soil → plants → detritivores) intensified.

Transition

By 6,094 BCE the islands held a larger, still patchy terrestrial green, while surrounding seas surged with Holocene productivity.