Coal forests were the vast swathes of swamps and riparian forests that covered much of the land on Earth's tropical regions during the late Carboniferous (Pennsylvanian) and Permian periods.[1][2] As plant matter from these forests decayed, enormous deposits of peat accumulated, which later became buried and converted into coal over the subsequent eras.
- ^ Cleal, C. J. & Thomas, B. A. (2005). "Palaeozoic tropical rainforests and their effect on global climates: is the past the key to the present?" Geobiology, 3, p. 13-31.
- ^ Sahney, S., Benton, M.J. & Falcon-Lang, H.J. (2010). "Rainforest collapse triggered Pennsylvanian tetrapod diversification in Euramerica" (PDF). Geology. 38 (12): 1079–1082. doi:10.1130/G31182.1.
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