Late Tertiary mosses of Ellesmere Island

Abstract

Well-preserved subfossil mosses were found in 16 late Tertiary samples from Ellesmere Island. The samples are of four types based on the sediment morphology, vascular plant macrofossils and mosses: forest soil, brown-moss peatbed, Sphagnum peatbed, and detrital layer. The forest soils include feather mosses and Dicranum but no aquatic mosses. The peatbeds are dominated by one or two of the following species: Scorpidium scorpioides, Drepanocladus crassicostatus, D. exannulatus, Calliergon giganteum, Sphagnum imbricatum and other Sphagnum sect. Sphagnum. The detrial layers (interbedded in sand and silt) contain the most diverse moss assemblages, including species of pools, marshes, fens and wet and dry soil, all of which might occur on a floodplain. Altogether 57 taxa were identified in the samples, bringing the known late Tertiary moss flora of the high arctic to about 80 species.