Soil formation rates on silicate parent material in alpine environments: Different approaches-different results?

Due to the requirement for chemical weathering to occur, soil production rates cannot be infinitely high. Consequently, a speed limit must exist. In the literature, this limit has been set at about 320 to 450 t/km2/a. Our results from the SAST approach show, however, that in alpine areas soil formation easily reaches rates of up to 800-2000 t/km2/a. These data are consistent with previous studies in mountain regions demonstrating that particularly young soils intensively weather, even under continuous seasonal snowpack and, thus, that the concept of 'temperature-controlled' soil development (soil-forming intervals) in alpine regions must be reconsidered.