Fenhe River lies in Shanxi province of middle reaches of Yellow River, whose lower reaches is one of the Chinese civilization origins. The research of natural environment evolution of lower reaches of Fenhe River for the last 10,000 years will benefit social economic development in the area and historical civilization in China. The main events reflecting environment evolution of lower reaches of Fenhe River are as follows:

1. Change of river discharge According to history, there was ever shipping in Fenhe River. The gully was smooth from Jin to Song Dynasty and intermittent since Ming and Qing Dynasty. Because of calamity and lack of food in Hejin in 1963, the government sent more than 20 ships with 200,000 kg grain from Linfen to Taiyang village in Hejin, today the lower reaches of Fenhe River isn't voyageable. Moreover, it is off and on.
2. Change of paleolake According to history, there were almost 10 lakes in lower reaches of Fenhe River. But now they all disappeared. For example, Taizitan was one of vestigial lakes of ancient Sanmen Lake into which divine springs ran. The water in the lake was abundant in Jin Dynasty and dried in Song. While the area was full of reed in Ming and Qing. At the beginning of liberation the area was alkaline lands, and trenches were digged to drain the water away in 1954. Now it has become agricultural model area irrigated by groundwater. There is lacustrine deposits 1 m under surface and groundwater about 3 m beneath it.
3. Change of groundwater stage The decline of groundwater stage commonly exists in industrialized cities. But the phenomenon in the remote parts of the Fenhe River relates to the environmental variations. For example, the groundwater stage has lowered by 8 m or so in the place where the famous Taosi Culture lies. The go under water stage of T3 in Jinchengbu has generally dropped by 2-3 m. The annual average discharge of Longzisi Spring has fallen to 4 m3/s from 6 m3/s.
4. Change of flood water At the beginning of our civilization flood overflowed in Yao and Shun time. Both Gun and Yu were ordered to harness the flood. In fact, there is the flood verstige in the Taosi Culture layer . Meng Fanxing has described several profiles which were buried after flood eroding. Gaodui is close to Jinchengbu in the west of Fenhe River. The former is lower, belonging to Yangshao Culture. The latter is higher, belonging to Yangshao and Longshan Culture. We recently find that Longshan Culture of Lishan and Guanque exists in loess broken tableland.
5. Fluviatile geomorgraphy There apparently exist high, middle and low flood plains in Linfen. Now fixed residency and road strenches are situated in the high flood plains. After Xipang Gully incised alluvial fan during late Pleistocene, 3 little inlaid alluvial fan formed in the new gully, the second of which has complete morphologies and thick deposits.
6. Paleosoil layers There are five layers of paleosoil in loess lying on Holocene gravel layer in the right-side escarpment where Sanjiaoliu and Changjiagou Gully meet in Hongtong county. The lower 3 layers are about 0.2 m thick, the black top is the paleosoil having developed on flood plains deposits, and the upper 2 layers are about 0.5-0.6 m thick, which obviously formed in two kinds of environment, and the top layer is loess.

General analysis from the above information: The lower reaches of Fenhe River has experienced 3 climate cycles for the last 10,000 years; it was cold and warm in early Holocene; it was warm in middle Holocene and lasted longer; it was tempered and cool in late Holocene.