Continuing Carboniferous Coal Conundrum

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morgueFile (very modified) 
This is the continuation of an article discussing coal measures in the Carboniferous system (Part 1 is here). Here, we examine the root structures of plants found in the coal measures, comparing them to other roots. Do you like math?
New fossil and field evidence relating to the structure of the root system of lycopods, the dominant vegetation of Upper Carboniferous strata, are presented and critically examined. Neither the elastic and partially hollow nature of the lycopod root structure, their inferred geometry throughout early ontological development, nor other evidence support the prevailing paradigm that the coal measures formed in a terrestrial swamp environment. Rather, they favour the floating forest or silvomarine hypothesis of Kuntze regarding the formation of Paleozoic coal layers.
You can read the rest of "The origin of the Carboniferous coal measures—part 2: The logic of lycopod root structure", here. (Part 3 is not available online yet, but I will fire it up when I find it.)