This report presents results on the occurrence and
biogeochemistry of unusual plant species, and of their
supporting sediment, in an undisturbed volcanogenic
massive sulfide deposit in the Tintina Gold Province (see
fig. 1 of Editors’ Preface and Overview). The extraordinary
plant assemblage found growing in the acidic metal-rich
waters that drain the area is composed predominantly of
bryophytes (liverworts and mosses). Ferricrete-cemented
silty alluvial sediments within seeps and streams are covered
with the liverwort Gymnocolea inflata, whereas the mosses
Polytrichum commune and P. juniperinum inhabit the area
adjacent to the water and within the splash zone. Both the
liverwort-encrusted sediment and Polytrichum thalli have high
concentrations of major- and trace-metal cations (for example,
Al, As, Cu, Fe, Hg, La, Mn, Pb, and Zn). Soils in the area do
not reflect the geochemical signature of the mineral deposit,
and we suspect that they are most influenced by the chemistry
of airborne dust (aeolian material) derived from outside the
area.
