Upright Trees in Coal
The autochthonous (or swamp-growth) theory of coal formation is central to the Age of the Earth debate because
it was used by German, English, Canadian, and American lawyers and geologists during the early to
middle 19th Century to convince the scientific communities of the world that the
Earth had to be much older than the 6,000--10,000 year Chronology portrayed in the
Old Testament: where Dragons
(now incorrectly referred to as "Dinosaurs") are described as
real creatures that were living at the same time as Man (i.e. Job
40:15-24 and 41).
The reason they believed this was because there are places in Germany, Canada and the United States where multiple seams of coal occur, one on top of the other, separated by shales, sandstones, clays and limestones, usually in some type of sequential order (called a cyclothem). In fact, some locations have over 80 seams of coal of various thicknesses. And even though many of these are less than and inch or two thick, some of them are several feet thick.
Therefore, according to the Peat Bog Theory, the time required for such "forests" to grow upon the spot of their burial, in multiple swampy peat bogs, and then to be covered up -- over and over and over again -- by the same types of sediments (surely) must have taken many hundreds of thousands (to millions and millions) of years.
This view
also, at first glance, appears to lend some support to the theory of evolution; however, time is simply not enough, as is discussed in other portions of this site.
On the other hand, if the coals were the result of rafted in vegetation (via
a major flood or floods) -- which was buried, again and again during
recurring phases of one major event, then
the coals need not have taken long to form, as they could do so via a single
worldwide event that uprooted virtually all vegetation on the
Earth's surface and buried it under sediments at various different times,
perhaps only days, hours, or minutes apart.
One of these views is (somewhat) compatible with the theory of evolution
and one is not. So if one is inclined to believe in evolution, or
even to disbelieve in a Creator/God, then he or
she would naturally lean toward believing in the peat bog theory of coal formation.
However, for various reasons, this theory is losing ground today in favor of the allochthonous, drift,
or alluvial theory (i.e. a Major Flood or floods), which states that the coals are
merely laminated sedimentary deposits
of mixed up and partially decomposed plant material. This rapid formation
view also better explains why such organic deposits are almost always laminated,
and in many cases very finely laminated.
For example, the Peat Bog Theory asserts that one foot of coal represents
10 feet of compressed peat. However, when considering
the upper drawing below, one will note
that the seam in which the trees rest is about
2 feet thick. This would (in theory) represent about 20 feet of peat growth.
And since peat grows
at about 1 foot every 300-600
years, then 20 feet of peat would
represent about 6,000 -- 12,000 years of time.
If such trees grew upon the spot where they were entombed, this would
mean that they somehow persisted for 6,000 -- 12,000 years without decaying or falling over,
since the lower ones appear to be "rooted" below the coal.
However, this poses
a problem for the peat growth theory because trees are not known to live for 6,000
years. Also, by the size of their trunks, the trees only appear to be about
100--200 years old. Therefore something really does appear to be wrong with this picture? Or just
maybe, something is wrong with the peat-bog theory of coal formation.
Various other instances of trees in coal have also been
documented and
observed by other
writers;
a few are mentioned in the author's paper
on "Fossil Forests" Parts 1
and 2
(see examples below). One
was reported to be
40 feet long and completely enclosed
in a very thick coal seam. The
author has also found various other instances
of upright trees in coal that are from one
to
three feet thick. And according to Kingsley such occurrences are not uncommon.
Below are a few links concerning Fossil Trees (and other
artifacts) found in coal.
 |
Querschnitt durch Gesteinschichten der Steinkohlenzeit mit aufrecht versteinerten Baumstämmen. Which means: Cross-section through rock strata of the coal period with upright fossilized tree stumps.
|
After Bölsche, Wilhelm, Im Steinkohlenwald; 1906-- (Various Eds.), p. 35
 |
After Williamson, William C., A Monograph on the Morphology and
Histology of Stigmaria Ficoides, 1887, p. 13.
Click Here for Full Size Image.
Note that in the drawing above there are no visible traces of roots even though the tree is sitting atop a laminated Fireclay and clays are supposed to be very good at preserving all sorts of (once living) things: Like (purportedly) 17 "million-year-old" green and fresh-looking magnolia leaves.
See
also: Conifers
and the Coal Question,
Coal:
How did it Originate, and other
articles
on this topic.
For additional information and Links see The Fossil Forests
of Nova Scotia