ADinosaurs were buried and compressed into coal over millions of years
BAncient swamp plants died, were buried under sediment, and were slowly transformed by heat and pressure over millions of years
CCoal is a type of volcanic rock formed from lava
DCoal is manufactured from other rocks by grinding them up
Coal formed during the Carboniferous Period (about 360-300 million years ago) when vast swamps covered much of the land. Dead plant material accumulated in swamps faster than it could decompose. Over millions of years, this material was buried under sediment and transformed by heat and pressure into increasingly carbon-rich forms: peat, lignite, bituminous coal, and eventually anthracite.
Question 2 Short Answer
Why does burning fossil fuels contribute to climate change?
Think about your answer, then reveal below.
Model answer: Fossil fuels contain carbon that was removed from the atmosphere by ancient organisms millions of years ago and stored underground. Burning them releases this carbon back into the atmosphere as CO2, a greenhouse gas. This adds carbon to the atmosphere much faster than natural processes can remove it, strengthening the greenhouse effect and warming the planet.
The key insight is the timescale mismatch. Ancient organisms took hundreds of millions of years to remove this carbon from the atmosphere. Humans are releasing it back in a few centuries — roughly a million times faster. The atmosphere and climate cannot adjust that quickly, which is why temperatures are rising.
Question 3 True / False
Oil is found in large underground caves or pools.
TTrue
FFalse
Answer: False
Oil does not exist in underground lakes or caverns. It fills the tiny pore spaces between grains in porous rock (like sandstone or limestone), much like water fills the pores of a sponge. An oil reservoir is a section of porous rock saturated with oil, capped by an impermeable layer that prevents the oil from escaping upward. Extracting oil involves drilling into this rock and pumping it out.