> Randy asks:
> >Could coal have been formed by tree bark?
>
> Certainly tree bark is a component of coal. But tree bark is only a small
> fraction of the biomass of a tree. If we don't have enough biomass using
> the whole tree, how is using just the bark going to help? I may not be
> understanding your point, but making coal out of tree bark doesn't help
> alleviate the apparent discrepancy between the present biomass and the
> organic mass represented in coal and oil. Better to use the tree, the
> leaves, the forestfloor litter, the bark, the fruit, etc., if you want to
> make a lot of coal.
Makes sense to me, my only point was that the flood model of coal
vegetation accumulation is much more realistic. The conversion of the
vegetation into coal, through adiabatic compression, heating, and shearing
stresses, is much more easily visualized in terms of catastrophism than
slow vertical accumulation of sediments.
-Randy