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The Carboniferous rainforest collapse was caused by a cooler drier climate that initially fragmented, then collapsed the rainforest ecosystem. [2] During most of the rest of Carboniferous times, the coal forests were mainly restricted to refugia in North America (such as the Appalachian and Illinois coal basins) and central Europe.
Coal forms when organic matter builds up in waterlogged, anoxic swamps, known as peat mires, and is then buried, compressing the peat into coal. The majority of Earth's coal deposits were formed during the late Carboniferous and early Permian. The plants from which they formed contributed to changes in the Carboniferous Earth's atmosphere. [25]
Vast deposits of coal originate in former wetlands called coal forests that covered much of the Earth's tropical land areas during the late Carboniferous (Pennsylvanian) and Permian times. [3] [4] Coal is used primarily as a fuel. While coal has been known and used for thousands of years, its usage was limited until the Industrial Revolution.
The Carboniferous period is characterised by the formation of coal deposits which were formed within a context of the removal of atmospheric carbon. In the latest Middle Pennsylvanian (late Moscovian) a cycle of aridification began, coinciding with abrupt faunal changes in marine and terrestrial species. [18]
The belt of Carboniferous coal fields extends into central Europe, [42] and much of this is bituminous coal. Bituminous coal fields are found in Poland [43] and the Czech Republic, [44] and the Polish deposits are one of the most important of that nation's natural resources. [45] The Czech deposits have been exploited since prehistoric times. [44]
Besides coal mining and natural gas extraction, Appalachia faces other environmental issues, including deforestation, soil erosion, climate change, and water scarcity. Deforestation has negatively impacted the region's biologically diverse forests, reducing habitat for various species and altering the forest ecosystem.
Coal Group 45 lies at the base of the Joggins Formation, and though the section assigned to this group stretches 3.1 m (10 ft 2 in) from start to finish, only 7.6 cm (3.0 in) of this actually represents basal coal. Two of the most heavily mined deposits of coal - the Fundy Seam and Dirty Seam - are part of the Joggins Formation.
Fossil fuels have been important to human development because they can be readily burned in the open atmosphere to produce heat. The use of peat as a domestic fuel predates recorded history. Coal was burned in some early furnaces for the smelting of metal ore , while semi-solid hydrocarbons from oil seeps were also burned in ancient times, [ 29 ...