If Coal Is Composed of Organic Materials Such as Vegetation

question 52

Essay

If coal is composed of organic materials such as vegetation, what prevents them from decaying before they become a sedimentary rock?

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Definitions:

Phenotypic Plasticity

The capacity of a living entity to alter its physical characteristics as a reaction to varying environmental conditions.

Genetic Engineering

A field of biotechnology that involves directly manipulating the genes of organisms to modify or improve specific characteristics or produce desired products.

Dominant Genes

Genes that express their trait even when only one copy is present, overpowering recessive genes in determining certain characteristics.

Recessive Genes

Genes that produce their characteristic phenotype only when their allele is identical and not masked by a dominant allele in a heterozygous pairing.