Abstract
Mössbauer and i.r. spectra of a series of nontronites show that Fe3+ and Al3+ are distributed between tetrahedral and octahedral sites. The Mössbauer results have reaffirmed the occupation by Fe3+ of octahedral sites at which these ions are coordinated to pairs of OH groups in both cis and trans configurations. The distribution of Fe3+ between these two sites varies considerably but in all of the nontronites some Fe3+ occurs in the trans site in contrast to the all cis occupancy of the centro-symmetric structure proposed by Mering and Oberlin (1967). In one of the nontronites the distribution of Fe3+ between these two sites approaches that in the ideal non-centrosymmetric structure proposed for montmorillonite.
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Goodman, B.A., Russell, J.D., Fraser, A.R. et al. A Mössbauer and I.R. Spectroscopic Study of the Structure of Nontronite. Clays Clay Miner. 24, 53–59 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1346/CCMN.1976.0240201
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1346/CCMN.1976.0240201