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No. There are two prevailing theories of how coal is formed - Drift or In-Situ but in both, coal is plant matter decayed (via bacteria, fungi etc) into peat. Th
by FooHentai 5y ago
No. There are two prevailing theories of how coal is formed - Drift or In-Situ but in both, coal is plant matter decayed (via bacteria, fungi etc) into peat. The peat then undergoes the transition to various coal forms (Lignite, Bituminous, Anthracite) due to pressure as it sits underground.
It's a very slow process, but ongoing.
- 8bitsrule 5y agoOnce I visited a lignite coal mine in western NoDak. The owner was fond of showing a collection of semi-fossilized root balls and tree-parts that were dug out along with the coal. Dates to 55-65Mya. It was being strip-mined, and it was close to the surface too. "Western North Dakota contains an estimated 351 billion tons of lignite, the single largest deposit of lignite known in the world... enough to last for over 800 years..." - https://www.dmr.nd.gov/ndgs/Mineral/nd_coalnew.asp https://www.dmr.nd.gov/ndgs/Mineral/nd_coalnew.asp