what is coal, and how was it formed in the Appalachian Mountains?
What is Coal? Coal is a black sedimentary rock that forms from the remains of organic material, such as dead plants, in swamps and bogs like those in the picture to the left (fig. 1). These remains, called detritus, fall into the swamp and are buried in the water. Because the swamp is such an oxygen-poor environment the plants are quickly preserved without reacting to the oxygen and aren’t eaten or otherwise destroyed. This allows the plants to become peat, a carbon rich compound of detritus that will burn when dried. Because of their slow rate of decomposition, these peat deposits have time to be buried by sediment and are hence preserved. Because of this the peat has much of the water squeezed out of it. During the continued burial of the peat, heat is applied and the gases such as methane are pushed out, which makes the peat more and more carbon rich. This burial can create a situation where the actual surface of the continent sinks gradually creating what is called a sedimentary ba
