This is a great area to view how coal is formed. Coal is formed
when peat is altered physically and chemically. This process is
called "coalification.
Coal is called a fossil fuel because it was formed from the
remains of vegetation that grew as long as 400 million years ago.
It is often referred to as "buried sunshine," because the plants
which formed coal captured energy from the sun through
photosynthesis to create the compounds that make up plant tissues.
The most important element in the plant material is carbon, which
gives coal most of its energy.
Most of our coal was formed about 300 million years ago, when
much of the earth was covered by steamy swamps. As plants and trees
died, their remains sank to the bottom of the swampy areas,
accumulating layer upon layer and eventually forming a soggy, dense
material called peat.
Over long periods of time, the makeup of the earth's surface
changed, and seas and great rivers caused deposits of sand, clay
and other mineral matter to accumulate, burying the peat. Sandstone
and other sedimentary rocks were formed, and the pressure caused by
their weight squeezed water from the peat. Increasingly deeper
burial and the heat associated with it gradually changed the
material to coal. Scientists estimate that from 3 to 7 feet of
compacted plant matter was required to form 1 foot of bituminous
coal. Coal formation is a continuing process.
To claim this earth cache you must email me the following:
1) What color is the layer in between the coal, what do you think
it is?
2) Find a piece of coal on the ground, what characteristic stands
out (besides "Black")?
Optional:
Post a picture of yourself\group or gps with the coal wall in the
background