Briefly explain how coal forms. What will be an ideal ...

[erika]

Briefly explain how coal forms. What will be an ideal response?

Question 2

Briefly explain why the study of sedimentary environments is important in the study of historical
  geology. What will be an ideal response?

[mariahkathleeen]

Answer to Question 1

Coal forms from the accumulation of generations of dead plants in a swamp. The plants never decay
fully because there is no oxygen for the decomposers to use. As the plants are buried by sediments and
other plants, they are lithified and become coal.

Answer to Question 2

Historical geology is concerned with understanding what events have taken place in the history of the
Earth and in what order. By using sedimentary rocks and the study of their depositional environments,
geologists can determine what processes have occurred on the surface of the Earth and when they
occurred.