Dear Pr Richter,

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?

Jerome-  

Let's start here with these three pubs.  The Reappraisal paper is a classic.

Dan

Article Reappraisal of the Soil: Pedogenesis consists of transaction...

Article "The Changing Model of Soil" Revisited

Article How Deep Is the Soil?

Dear Pr Richter,

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..

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259183459_Major_weathering_in_France_related_to_lithospheric_deformation

Article Major weathering in France related to lithospheric deformation