Coal: Black Power

Formation (1/6)

A group of fossilized cypress trees preserved in an open-cast lignite mine in northeastern Hungary. Coal is typically formed from the fossilized remains of dead plants that lived millions of years ago.

First, the plant debris, buried and compacted beneath sediments, forms a material known as peat. Through geological processes of burial and alteration by heat and pressure, peat is converted into coal. (Photo: Reuters)