If we can dig and mine up coal, does that mean that it was once a tree that burned down?

Question

If we can dig and mine up coal, does that mean that it was once a tree that burned down?

In: 245

Answer 1

Coal is basically old dead plants that have been buried and slightly heated up. It’s not something that previously burned down, most coal comes from plants that were in swampy environments.

Over time the dead vegetation builds up, eventually it gets buried. It then gets pressed together and will usually be heated up to some extent. How much heat it’s exposed to will lead to different types of coal.

Peat is the predecessor to coal. It used to be burnt for fuel regularly. If you look up a peat bog you can see how things kind of started.