On Wed, Oct 8, 2008 at 2:43 PM, Scott Daniel - Turbovans
<scottdaniel@turbovans.com> wrote:
> no , keep in on list.
> I want to hear about this 'only coal is fossil fuel' thing too.
>
> as we understand it, at least petroleum is a fossil fuel too.
> so keep it public wouldja.
> thanks,
> Scott

OK...

Natural gas is indeed derived from organisms, but there is no
structure or hint of the originating organisms themselves left. Ergo,
not fossil; petrochemicals are just chemical residues. They are
derived from marine animal and "protist" (single-celled organisms)
deposited in anoxic basins, where they cannot decompose.

Coal, on the other hand, derived from land plants, retains plant
structures, which can sometimes be seen on large pieces which cleave
along the original planes of bedding, showing stems,. leaves etc. I
guess a coal may be carbonized and altered sufficiently to lose such
structures; heated and squeezed sufficiently, it metamorphoses into
graphite and all plant structures are lost; therefore at this stage it
ceases to be a fossil. A fossil must either be an original part of an
organism (it may be original material as is the usual case with bones;
it may have been dissolved and replaced by other minerals, or be soft
parts replaced by minerals; it may be a mold) or it  may be a trace
fossil (sediment diasturbances produced by organisms eg trackways,
burrows). It must have original structures preserved, even just a a
hollow mold.

Those who call petrochemicals "fossil" are not paleontologists, and of
course it is up to paleontologists to define what "fossil" means. Any
other use is inappropriate.

--
Andrew Grebneff
Dunedin, New Zealand
Fossil preparator
Mollusc, Toyota & VW van nut
Temporarily in Calgary, AB, Canada
<goose1047@gmail.com>