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What is coal and how was it formed?

Updated: 9/11/2023
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Coal is a nonrenewable hard black rock-like substance which is burned to heat houses and produce electricity and was once used to power trains and boats. It is made up of: carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and varying amounts of sulphur.

When the geologists examine the fossil plants in coal, they find the leaves and bark came from plants which no longer exist on earth. They infer that these plants probably grew in moist warm swampy forests roughly 300 million years ago. Over a period of time the plants in these forests died, leaving layers of decaying wood and other plant material. As more and more sediments were deposited the weight of these layers forced out much of the water and gases from the plant material, making it richer in carbon. Thus began the slow change over millions of years from wood to coal.

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Q: What is coal and how was it formed?
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Related questions

The remains of vegetation of long ago has formed?

Coal


Where are the first stages of coal formed?

Coals are formed by plants, after millions of years they become coal.


What fuel is formed pressures and heat causes reains of swamp plants?

coal. coal is formed.


How are diamonds formed in coal?

Diamonds are not formed in coal: each is an allotrope of carbon and are formed by Mother Nature under entirely different circumstances.


Which process is anthracite coal formed from bituminous coal?

metamorphism


Where is coal begin to form from?

Coal is formed from plants, which turned into peat, then lignite, then coal.


How is black and brown coal produced?

Coal is formed by the burial and heating of large quantities of organic matter. Brown coal is a low-grade form of coal, formed by moderate burial and pressure. Black coal is formed by increasing pressure and temperature, removing more of the volatiles and resulting in a more carbon-rich coal.


How coal are formed by layer to layer?

what coal is is layers of ancient dead plants so for every layer of dead plants is another layer of coal that is formed


A metamorphic rock formed from coal?

Anthracite, a variety of coal, is formed from the metamorphosis of bituminous coal through natural processes of heat and pressure deep underground.


What phases does coal go through before it forms a diamond?

A diamond is not formed from coal. Diamond and coal are both allotropes of carbon, and are formed by different processes.


What kind of fossil is found in coal?

Coal was formed from the remains of plants.


Is Coal and mineral?

Yes. Both diamond and coal are formed from carbon.