Coal Formation

     Coal formation is a relatively simple process. Once swamp plants, the vegetation in these swampy areas dies and falls into the water, where it continues to decay without oxygen. Because oxygen is so important in the gradual decaying process, it manages to concentrate the carbon in the fauna and create a sort of energy source, which can be burned to release the contained energy. This first stage of coal is called peat.
     Over time, the carbon bonds strengthen even further and are compressed by the layers of earth that cover it. The second stage of this process creates lignite coal, a brown coal which is considered to be in many ways the first stage where it can actually be called coal. This is followed by bituminous coal, what we mine here in West Virginia. Under more compression this becomes anthracite coal, the most compressed form of coal which can be dug up. Coke is a coal product of further burning coal to create carbon in its most compressed form and is used to create the hot flame needed for the steel industry.