Eileen Tamaki, Age 10, Of Toronto, Ont., Canada, for her question;

Is coal still being formed?

Coal forms from plant life which has been buried in the earth’s crust, and the entire recipe takes millions of years. Most of our coal beds have been in the making for 200 million years or more. The formation starts when masses of vegetation are left where they decay. Later, the old. Plant life was buried and pressed under new layers of rock.

Coal beds have been started throughout all of earth's history, and it is likely that a number of coal beds are being started and formed right now. Certain moss choked lakes turn into peat, which in time turns into soft, brown coal, which after more time turns into ebony, black coal. What is now a boggy swamp may be a buried coal bed, say, 100 million or 200 million years from now.