Re: Coal

Glenn Morton (grmorton@gnn.com)
Sat, 18 Jan 1997 21:51:20

Hi Art,
Art writes:

>Extant peat bogs give an example of how the modern environment could hold a
>much higher carbon reservoir than just what is in the present biomass.
>Other examples may have included floating masses of vegetation such as in
>modern quaking bogs. Much of the Paleozoic plant vegetation must have grown
>under these conditions, not just because the modern representatives of these
>groups do, but because a even a cursory analysis of the rooting structures
>associated with these plants indicates they could not have grown in soil.
>Many of the tree ferns had arenchymous roots, the common stigmaria root grew
>from a blunt terminal bud, throwing out pencil sized rootlets with very thin
>walled cells, ideal for obtaining support from a bog substrate, but
>completely incapable of penetrating soil. Thus these forms could easily
>have grown atop ponderous masses of floating vegetation, allowing the
>possibility of a very large carbon reservoir.

If there was only 1656 years for these bogs to form prior to the Flood, that
probably isn't enough time to generate and store all of the carbon seen in the
coal beds. I know your view on the age of the earth but I think Randy is
working from a young earth viewpoint which must be taken into account in the
answer.

Randy, if I am mistaken please correct me.

glenn

Foundation,Fall and Flood
http://members.gnn.com/GRMorton/dmd.htm