Debates on Autochthonous and Allochthonous Origin of Coal: Empirical Science versus the Diluvialists

Abstract

Coal is the most abundant fossil fuel resource, acting as a terrestrial carbon sink since the evolution of forests in the Late Devonian. Debate concerning its accumulation began centuries ago when naturalists ascribed its formation to catastrophism associated with the Genesis Flood. With empirical data derived from both modern peat accumulations and ancient coal deposits in the mid-to-late 19thCentury, the general scientific community developed a set of criteria upon which to demonstrate the autochthonous (in situ) nature of most peat accumulations. At the same time, adherents to the teachings of Ellen G. White, the Seventh Day Adventist leader, and George McCready Price continued to propagate the idea that our global coal (and oil) reserves were the result of the Noachian Flood. In Price's model, adapted and changed by recent creationists, all continents were denuded by strong tidal activity inherent in the Flood waters. Rafts of floating vegetation were transported to ocean basins where they sanken masse, forming coal deposits, with subsequent burial by siliciclastics and limestones derived from the erosion of alternative source areas. The alternation of vegetation mats derived from one source area and sediments derived from another throughout the year of the Flood accounted for the stratigraphic sequence in coal-bearing strata.