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The vegetable origin of coal is supported by the presence in coal of carbonized fibers, stems, leaves, and seeds of plants, which can be detected with the naked eye in the softer varieties and with the microscope in harder coal. Sometimes carbonized tree stumps have been found standing in layers of coal. The general interpretation of these facts is that coal originated in swamps similar to present-day peat bogs and in lagoons, probably partly from plants growing in the area and partly from plant material carried in by water and wind. From the thickness of coal seams, it is assumed that the coal swamps were located near sea level and were subject to repeated submergence, so that a great quantity of vegetable matter accumulated over a long period of time.
The initial processes of disintegration and decomposition of the organic matter were brought about by the action of bacteria and other microorganisms. Peat, the first product formed, is altered to form lignite and coal through metamorphism. The pressure of the accumulated layers of overlying sediments and rock upon the submerged plant matter forced out much of the water and caused some of the volatile substances to escape and the nonvolatile carbon material to form a more compact mass. The greater the stress exerted in the process of metamorphism, the higher was the grade of coal produced. Cannel coal was probably formed in ponds, rather than in lagoons or swamps, as it occurs in lenticular masses and is frequently found to contain fossil fish. Coal was formed chiefly in the Carboniferous period of geologic time, but valuable deposits date also from the Permian, Triassic, Jurassic, Cretaceous, and Tertiary periods.
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