Sign determination of the 57Fe quadrupole splitting in an amorphous Fe24Zr76 alloy

57Fe Mossbauer spectra of an amorphous Fe24Zr76 alloy obtained both in the paramagnetic state and in applied magnetic fields show that the quadrupole splitting (QS) is almost exclusively positive. The spectra are consistent with a normally distributed QS of positive mean and a mean asymmetry parameter eta =0.67+or-0.07. The results are in contradiction with the predictions of dense random packing models and indicate the existence of strong short-range order.