Wetlands

Coal swamps of the Carboniferous Period were among the most extensive wetlands of all time. Wetlands are continental areas that are normally moist at least part of the year and that support luxuriant growths of vegetation. Some have standing water throughout the year. Wetlands were widewpread during the Carboniferous time because the seas stood high enough (at least periodically) to spread across large areas of the continents.

Most of the welands of the modern world are informally termed marshes or swampes. Tall, grass-like pants that can tolerate brackish (low saltiness) form coastal marshes in relatively cool climates. In frost-free areas these plants give way to mangroves, which are shrub-like treees that are able to grow in standing salt water.

When the United State was founded in 1776, its wetland spread acrosss 215 million acres, but only about 100 million of these acreas remain. Humans are currently destroying about one third of a million acreas of wetlands every year. This is especially true in the Florida everglades. People think of wetlands as undesirable. However, these areas are very important in terms of the oxygen they release to the atmosphere. The rich plant life is a rich source of oxygen. These regions also support dense populations of animals.

The vast coal deposits that help drive the industrial revolution during the past century were formed from the Carboniferous swamp deposits that lay buried for millions of years.