If we can dig and mine up coal, does that mean that it was once a tree that burned down?
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No, they weren’t burned above ground. If that happened, it would be ash, not coal. Coal is kind of like charcoal. You make it by making the wood really hot, but with no oxygen, so it can’t actually catch on fire. The carbon doesn’t burn, it’s kind of purified.
Coal formation is similar, but the heat comes from the pressure of being buried under tons of dirt and rock.
At least, that’s how it seems to me. I’m not an expert.
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