Abstract
Two sets of natural Al-substituted goethites from contrasting surface environments (24 tropical and subtropical soils vs. ten lake iron ores from Finland) were characterized by Mössbauer spectra obtained at room temperature and 4.2 K. A negative correlation between Bhf and Al substitution (R2 = 0.751) was found by combining the data of all the samples, which was slightly improved (R2 = 0.779) by taking the mean coherence length perpendicular to 111 (MCL111) into account. The effect of Al on lowering Bhf was, however, stronger for the tropical soil goethites than for those of the lake ores. This is parallelled by a corresponding difference in the unit-cell decrease per unit Al substitution. These differences are believed to result from the crystallization conditions in the two different environments.