before to start to debate on the soil depth and the link with pedogenetic processes, can you give a definition of soil on which everyone can rely to answer?
thanks a lot for the very interesting publications.
However, you already answer in those 2 papers :-)
I agree withyou that soil (including C horizon) can have a large range of depth.
In line of "How deep is soil?", we have the question "What is soil?".
According to different discipline (geomorphology, geology, geotechnics) we have different definition, it is not surprising. But, one of the difficulties is that inside the "soil sciences" we do not agree on what soil is. For instance, many pedologist use the term solum as synonymous to soil. However, I fully agree with you that according to the Critical Zone concept soil encompasses also C horizon (subsolum or substratum).
According to that soil depth can greetly increase. Furthermore, time scale processes are different. A C horizon is (like solum) largely polygenic because weathering is impacted by not only climate an life but also by tectonic (like uplifting) as demonstrated by Wynns et al (2003).
So Solum is in modern countries since the neolithic largely anthropized, anthropization of the subsolum is less evident but occurs as well..