Sentence Correction

Geologists once thought that the molten rock known as lava was an underground remnant of Earth's earliest days, sporadically erupting through volcanoes, but they now know that it is continuously created by the heat of the radioactivity deep inside the planet.

A: was an underground remnant of Earth's earliest days, sporadically erupting
B: had been an underground remnant of Earth's earliest days and sporadically erupted
C: was an underground remnant of Earth's earliest days, which sporadically erupted
D: would be an underground remnant of Earth's earliest days that sporadically erupted
E: was an underground remnant of Earth's earliest days, having sporadically erupted

OA is A


My doubt here is that is -ing modifier totally justified in the correct answer choice ? why not B ?

Ans should be A. Pls confirm.

B is incorrect because of Tense issue.

In B option past perfect is used which is wrong. Past perfect is used when we want to emphasize the sequence of events and if the sequence is already known then we use simple past

NOW tells us that sequence is clearly known.

hey_thr67 wrote:Geologists once thought that the molten rock known as lava was an underground remnant of Earth's earliest days, sporadically erupting through volcanoes, but they now know that it is continuously created by the heat of the radioactivity deep inside the planet.

A: was an underground remnant of Earth's earliest days, sporadically erupting
B: had been an underground remnant of Earth's earliest days and sporadically erupted
C: was an underground remnant of Earth's earliest days, which sporadically erupted
D: would be an underground remnant of Earth's earliest days that sporadically erupted
E: was an underground remnant of Earth's earliest days, having sporadically erupted

OA is A


My doubt here is that is -ing modifier totally justified in the correct answer choice ? why not B ?

The past perfect implies an action that STOPPED HAPPENING at some point in the past.
In B, HAD BEEN an underground remnant implies that at some point in the past lava STOPPED being an underground remnant.
Not the intended meaning.

COMMA + VERBing should refer to the subject of the nearest preceding clause. In A, erupting correctly refers to lava, the subject of the nearest preceding clause.