Definition: Podzols are soils with a typically ash-grey upper subsurface horizon, bleached by loss of organic matter and iron oxides, on top of a dark accumulation horizon with brown, reddish or black illuviated humus and/or reddish Fe compounds. Podzols occur in humid areas in the boreal and temperate zones and locally also in the tropics.
Definition: An alpine condition is an environmental condition in which the monthly mean temperature is less than 10 degrees Celsius and which occurs at altitudes above the tree line and below the snowline.