The distribution of Ga and Al atoms within the octahedral sheets of sy
nthetic goethites has been investigated by XRD and Ga K-edge XANES and
EXAFS spectroscopies. XRD results indicate a solid solution between g
oethite (alpha FeOOH) and GaGoe4 (40 mol% of Ga), The XANES data indic
ate the presence of Ga-6 in the solid solution. The fitting procedures
for EXAFS spectra show no evidence of preferential octahedral site su
bstitutions for Ga.