A progressive increase in the intensity of the SiOSi bending band at 470 cm(-1) in the DRIFT spectrum of silica gel is recorded upon heating in the temperature range 100-400 degrees C. This increase in intensity is attributed to surface siloxanes formed due to condensation of surface hydroxyls which were necessarily too near to each other, Since the newly formed siloxanes showed their bending mode at the same frequency as that of the siloxanes in the bulk, both types of siloxanes are considered similar.