The biogeochemistry and occurrence of unusual plant species inhabiting acidic, metal-rich water, Red Mountain, Bonnifield district, Alaska Range: Chapter J in Recent U.S. Geological Survey studies in the Tintina Gold Province, Alaska, United States, and Yukon, Canada--results of a 5-year project
Scientific Investigations Report
2007-5289-J
This report is Chapter J in Recent U.S. Geological Survey studies in the Tintina Gold Province, Alaska, United States, and Yukon, Canada--results of a 5-year project. For more information, see: Scientific Investigation Report 2007-5289.
By: Larry P. Gough, Robert G. Eppinger, and Paul H. Briggs
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Abstract
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.
Study Area
| Publication type | Report |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | USGS Numbered Series |
| Title | The biogeochemistry and occurrence of unusual plant species inhabiting acidic, metal-rich water, Red Mountain, Bonnifield district, Alaska Range: Chapter J in Recent U.S. Geological Survey studies in the Tintina Gold Province, Alaska, United States, and Yukon, Canada--results of a 5-year project |
| Series title | Scientific Investigations Report |
| Series number | 2007-5289 |
| Chapter | J |
| DOI | 10.3133/sir20075289J |
| Year Published | 2007 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | U.S. Geological Survey |
| Publisher location | Reston, VA |
| Contributing office(s) | Eastern Mineral Resources Science Center, Eastern Mineral and Environmental Resources Science Center |
| Description | iii, 6 p. |
| Larger Work Type | Report |
| Larger Work Subtype | USGS Numbered Series |
| Larger Work Title | Recent U.S. Geological Survey studies in the Tintina Gold Province, Alaska, United States, and Yukon, Canada--results of a 5-year project (Scientific Investigations Report 2007-5289) |
| Country | Canada;United States |
| State | Alaska;Yukon |
| Other Geospatial | Tintina Gold Province |
| Google Analytic Metrics | Metrics page |