Coal and Its Rapid Formation
One of the key topics in the debate over the age of the earth is discussion of coal deposits and their formation. Secular scientists believe that coal deposits form over millions of years while young-earth creationists believe that coal was formed very quickly during the Genesis Flood about 4,500 years ago. First, let us define what coal is: a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock composed of a large amount of carbon and hydrocarbon content. Coal is a major source of energy in the world. Coal bed deposits across the world were formed by large amounts of vegetation being pulled from their roots and rapidly deposited underneath the flood sediments and hardening over 4,500 years, not by millions of years of burial in swamps. Coal has been observed to form within a few days inside a laboratory setting and therefore the large amounts of coal that we see on Earth today could have formed rapidly within the creationist time frame. Creationists also believe that there was more vegetation on earth before the Genesis Flood, therefore supplying more plant material to produce the coal deposits after being buried by flood sediments.
Secular scientists classify coal as a nonrenewable energy source because they believe it takes hundreds of millions of years to form in swampy forests and wetlands. In addition, secular scientists believe the plants in the swampy forests were covered by layers of soil and rock over millions of years and the resulting pressure and heat turned the plant material into coal. Coal is classified into four main types, or ranks: anthracite, bituminous, sub-bituminous, and lignite. The ranking depends on the types and amounts of carbon the coal contains and on the amount of heat energy the coal can produce. The rank of a coal deposit is determined by the amount of pressure and heat that acted on the plants over time. Anthracite has the highest rank of coal and the most carbon content while lignite is the lowest grade and has the least carbon content. An estimated 1.2 trillion short tons of coal reserves exist in the world today as of 2014 (one short ton equals 2,000 pounds). So how did such a large amount of coal material form on earth?
Creationists believe that coal formed very quickly during the Genesis Flood and that swamps simply could not have produced the amount of coal deposits we observe on earth today. One of the requirements of coal formation is a large amount of plant material deposited under layers of sediment. The Flood model easily explains coal formation by explaining that the catastrophic floodwaters pulled and removed plant material from their roots and later buried the plant material underneath sediment layers deposited by the Flood. The buried vegetation was compressed by the overlying sediment layers into coal within the 4,500 year time frame since the Flood.
Researchers from Argonne National Laboratory have also determined that coal can be produced from plant materials in less than eight months. In response to secular scientists who say that there is not enough vegetation on earth to account for the large amount of coal deposits, creationists hypothesize that the earth had much more vegetation before the Flood than today's earth, which contains many deserts and arid lands. Creationists explain the excess vegetation before the Flood would account for today's coal deposits, in addition to the larger land area on earth before being submerged by the Flood.
The coal deposits commonly have sharp, clean boundaries separating the darker colored coal layer from the lighter-colored shale or limestone layers above or below with little sign of erosion between layers, indicating a quick deposition. In addition, the sedimentary layers found above and below the coal deposits commonly do not resemble the characteristics of swamp material, but have the characteristics of a marine environment.
The presence of carbon-14 has been detected in coal, which is the unstable, radioactive isotope of carbon that has a laboratory measured half-life of 5,730 years and cannot exist more than 50,000 to 100,000 total years. Therefore, coal deposits give much evidence for the Genesis Flood and the young earth. Evolutionists have countered with explanations of contaminated samples, but creationists confirm that samples were free of carbon contamination. The levels of carbon-14 found in coal could only exist if the samples were only several thousand years old and not millions of years old.
Secular scientists classify coal as a nonrenewable energy source because they believe it takes hundreds of millions of years to form in swampy forests and wetlands. In addition, secular scientists believe the plants in the swampy forests were covered by layers of soil and rock over millions of years and the resulting pressure and heat turned the plant material into coal. Coal is classified into four main types, or ranks: anthracite, bituminous, sub-bituminous, and lignite. The ranking depends on the types and amounts of carbon the coal contains and on the amount of heat energy the coal can produce. The rank of a coal deposit is determined by the amount of pressure and heat that acted on the plants over time. Anthracite has the highest rank of coal and the most carbon content while lignite is the lowest grade and has the least carbon content. An estimated 1.2 trillion short tons of coal reserves exist in the world today as of 2014 (one short ton equals 2,000 pounds). So how did such a large amount of coal material form on earth?
Creationists believe that coal formed very quickly during the Genesis Flood and that swamps simply could not have produced the amount of coal deposits we observe on earth today. One of the requirements of coal formation is a large amount of plant material deposited under layers of sediment. The Flood model easily explains coal formation by explaining that the catastrophic floodwaters pulled and removed plant material from their roots and later buried the plant material underneath sediment layers deposited by the Flood. The buried vegetation was compressed by the overlying sediment layers into coal within the 4,500 year time frame since the Flood.
Researchers from Argonne National Laboratory have also determined that coal can be produced from plant materials in less than eight months. In response to secular scientists who say that there is not enough vegetation on earth to account for the large amount of coal deposits, creationists hypothesize that the earth had much more vegetation before the Flood than today's earth, which contains many deserts and arid lands. Creationists explain the excess vegetation before the Flood would account for today's coal deposits, in addition to the larger land area on earth before being submerged by the Flood.
The coal deposits commonly have sharp, clean boundaries separating the darker colored coal layer from the lighter-colored shale or limestone layers above or below with little sign of erosion between layers, indicating a quick deposition. In addition, the sedimentary layers found above and below the coal deposits commonly do not resemble the characteristics of swamp material, but have the characteristics of a marine environment.
The presence of carbon-14 has been detected in coal, which is the unstable, radioactive isotope of carbon that has a laboratory measured half-life of 5,730 years and cannot exist more than 50,000 to 100,000 total years. Therefore, coal deposits give much evidence for the Genesis Flood and the young earth. Evolutionists have countered with explanations of contaminated samples, but creationists confirm that samples were free of carbon contamination. The levels of carbon-14 found in coal could only exist if the samples were only several thousand years old and not millions of years old.
