Horizon 1 1 17 ACL : Articles dans des revues avec comité de lecture répertoriées par l'AERES Comptes Rendus Geoscience 177-187 Spectroscopy Ab initio modeling Laterites Clay minerals Iron oxides 2011 fdi:010053512 ENG Comptes Rendus Geoscience 1631-0713 ISI:000289880800008 2-3 10.1016/j.crte.2010.10.006 https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010053512 https://www.documentation.ird.fr/intranet/publi/2011/05/010053512.pdf 343 Horizon (IRD) This article summarizes some recent results obtained on the physical properties of environmental minerals, mostly kaolinite-group minerals and Fe- and Al-(hydr)oxides occurring in lateritic soils. The defective structure of these minerals, including impurities, stacking faults and radiation-induced defects, is probed using infrared spectroscopy and electron paramagnetic resonance. Resulting information bears on models of soil formation and transformation mechanisms of minerals in low-temperature environments. We underline the increasing impact of quantum chemical modeling in this field, providing straightforward interpretations of spectroscopic signals and overcoming the limits of fingerprint approaches. Importantly, the first-principles modeling of isotopic fractionation factors provides new links between mineralogical and geochemical investigations of secondary minerals. 064 UR206