| Abstract: | The structure of the basic iron phosphate rockbridgeite iron manganese zinc tris(phosphate) pentahydroxide] was reinvestigated with special emphasis on the cation distribution deduced from new X‐ray and 57Fe Mössbauer data. Rockbridgeite is orthorhombic, space group Cmcm, and shows three different Fe sites, one with symmetry, another with m symmetry and the third in a general position. One phosphate group has the P atom on a site with m symmetry, while the other has the P atom at a site with mm symmetry. Two Fe sites are fully occupied by ferric iron, while Mn3+ and Fe2+ are situated at a third, principally Fe, site. Structural data, bond‐valence sums and polyhedral distortion parameters suggest a new interpretation of the rockbridgeite 57Fe Mössbauer spectrum. |
