How did ancient forests turn to coal, fueling modern society?

As inventors perfected the steam engine, every industry quickly transitioned to the new mechanism. Production lines, roads, waterways and railways take advantage of the power of boiling water to spread everywhere. But thanks to the glossy black coal seams, the new society can develop to contemporary heights.

The carbon-rich rock also accelerates the rate of climate change, but that does not mean that coal's role in the Industrial Revolution is not taken lightly. From the Smithsonian Institution, paleontologist Bill DiMichele asserts that 'coal is king', and in some localities this is still true.

Even as renewable energy has stabilized, the US in 2020 will still see 20% of its electricity generated by coal-fired power plants. 'At this point, coal is still very important,' expert DiMichele confirmed.

"Coal" is not a specific type of coal, but this definition refers to the phenomenon of oxidizing matter in coal and creating a sparkling color. Not long after exposure, the air will oxidize all the matter causing the sparkle.

Also by luck, humanity was able to grow on the same planet with precious resources. Hundreds of millions of years ago, in the vegetated swamps of pristine continents, a series of climatic events and continental plate movements helped to bury vast amounts of vegetation. When the equation adds pressure, temperature, and time, the vegetation turns into peat, and then hardens into coal.

The coal formation process requires the full and correct convergence of a series of conditions. Why such a coincidence?

When geologists began classifying stratigraphy, the Carboniferous Period (which lasted between 300 and 360 million years ago) was one of the first named periods. This period also saw plants thrive on the ground. The word 'carboniferous', which means 'coal-producing' in Latin, accurately describes the nature of the mostly coal-bearing sediments in Great Britain.

However, many thousands of years after the Carboniferous period, coal production still took place in other areas, even on an even larger scale. Paleontologist Kevin Boyce explains that 'coal doesn't stop [forming], they just move into other areas'. According to the data he has, the vast coal seams of Siberia, China and Australia all date from the Permian, the period immediately following the Carboniferous Age. Some survey parameters show that the process of coal formation in the Permian period was stronger than the 'coal production' period.

Illustration of the Coal Age swamp.

However, coal does not form at a steady rate. Throughout the geological history of the Earth, there are small periods between the times when large coal plates have formed. The disagreement raises the question of why coal production has not been consistent throughout Earth's history.

There has been an explanation in the past, that the Coal Age formed a lot of coal because the trees were just beginning to grow, and the fungi were still not mature enough to break down lignin, the polymer that makes wood so hard. I know. Thanks to that, ancient plants did not disappear, but were preserved under many layers of sediment, then turned into coal.

The assumption is reasonable in many ways, but not enough to convince all experts. First, the rate of fungi that cannot synthesize lignin-degrading enzymes after tens of millions of years is very low. Furthermore, charcoal doesn't just come from trees. In many areas, most of the vegetation buried in the sediments was large trees related to present-day heather (also known as 'stone pines'), which contained very little lignin.

Need an exact formula for the Earth alchemist to smelt coal

In a scientific report published in 2016, two researchers Boyce, DiMichele and their colleagues refute the above hypothesis, arguing that the Carboniferous Age simply converged all the necessary geological factors. yes; Not to mention other coal tectonics.

Across the land, the element that supports coal generation is abundantly present. According to Mr. Boyce, it only takes a lot of rain (to help plants grow and form a swamp) and a big hole (to store trees) that coal will be able to appear over time.

In waterlogged swamps, peat will form.

During the Carboniferous period, when the continental plates came together to form the Whole Continent (Pangaea), the collisions between the tectonic plates created large mountain ranges and basins. Those are potential coal pits. Some of these basins, present in present-day Europe and the eastern United States, occur in hot, humid tropical conditions.

Basically, coal formation depends on a large number of pits located in suitable convergence areas, allowing organic matter to accumulate in large quantities.

As plants die in these wetlands, many fall into stagnant ponds with low oxygen content. Because most decomposing organisms (such as bacteria, fungi, etc.) cannot grow in that harsh environment, plants do not have a chance to decompose. Instead, they crumble into peat. Even so, peat cannot become coal if the land dries out and causes the peat to dissolve. A protective layer of sediment is needed to cover the top, helping the coal formation process begin.

Occasionally, in marshy areas located near the sea or in coastal areas that are frequently exposed to high tides, peat pits are present. This phenomenon frequently occurs during the Earth's ice ages.

Glacier in Argentina.

Peat formed during a period of widespread cold, when polar ice thickened and sea levels dropped. And when the ice melts, the water puts sediment over the peat pit, burying the decaying vegetation that will later become coal. In some archaeological sites, stone histories record alternating layers of terrestrial and marine sediments. Deep inland, eroding soil can also cover peat pits and produce similar results.

Continuing with cycles of up to a thousand years, new layers of sediments and peat compress old ones. The enormous mass squeezes out the water in the peat, allowing the coal to harden over time. Brown coal (lignite) gradually formed, and then gradually turned into coal.

A new epochal coincidence has a

The reason why coal appeared so much in the Age of the same name is more complicated than we thought, it's not just the time it took for fungi to evolve the ability to decompose wood. But researcher DiMichele thinks simply about the natural process with the presence of three factors: ice ages, heavy rains and layers of sediment.

As long as the basin is in the right place, the coal formation process can take place steadily. 'Once you see the interconnected system, it's not that complicated,' he said. 'The glaciers come and go. Peat simultaneously forms and does not appear. That's reasonable.'

Coal appears in many parts of the world.

Besides, coal appears in many parts of the world. Even today, in some tropical regions, such as the island of Borneo in Asia or the forests of the Congo Basin, peat is piling up in hopes of becoming the coal seams of the future.

But indeed, no process in modern or modern history compares with either the Coal and Permian. To create the massive fossil fuel deposits that led the Industrial Revolution, we would need a precise sequence of events, and the Earth wasn't always available.