I am curious about how coal was created far below the surface of the earth. I have always thought that somehow it was compressed vegetable matter and if that is correct, how did it get covered so deeply?

Your right about how it came to be but take into consideration that this process of compression take millions of years and the earth has changed a bit the last million or so years. Remember things like ice ages, floods, earthquakes etc. I think the best factor would be the ice ages that has been dramatically changing our world.

Hello 1:

Bardonicus is right on.

Another factor is that our land masses float around on a liquid just like boats do in the ocean. They bang into each other and fold over on top of each other, and get sucked down underneath each other. They generally cause havoc amongst themselves when they meet. Mountains get created where oceans once were. Deserts happen where there was once swamp.

It just happens pretty slowly. As a matter of fact, the continents move as about as fast as your fingernail grows.

That's how coal gets stuck waaaay down there.

excon