Iridium concentrations and abundances of meteoritic ejecta from the Eltanin impact in sediment cores from POLARSTERN cruise ANT-XII/4

Three cores with well-preserved impact deposits, PS2704-1, PS2708-1, and PS2709-1, each contain Ir and ejecta fluences similar to those found previously in USNS Eltanin core E13-4.

Small Ir anomalies and traces of ejecta were found in cores PS2706-1 and PS2710-1, but since these cores lack well-defined deposits, these are considered to be reworked and not representative of the fallout. No evidence of ejecta was found in cores PS2702-1 and PS2705-1. These results confirm earlier speculation that the Eltanin impact resulted in deposits of ejecta with up to 1 g/cm**2 of debris over a wide area of the ocean floor.