Vol. 44 No.

11

SCIENCE IN CHINA (Series D)

November 2001

Geochemical evidence for the characteristic of the 1908 Tunguska explosion body in Siberia, Russia
XIE Liewen ( a!)1, HOU Quanlin ( & N. V. Kolesnikova2 a)1, E. M. Kolesnikov2

1. Laboratory of Lithosphere Tectonic Evolution, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China; 2. Geological Faculty of Moscow State University, 119899 Moscow, Russia Received June 26, 2001

Abstract Twenty-two peat samples collected at different depths of a core including the layer affected by the 1908 explosion in Tunguska area of Central Siberia, Russia, and three basalt samples collected near the site, are analyzed by ICP-MS. The concentrations of Pd, Ni, Co, REE, Ti and Sr in the event layers are 435 times higher than the background values in the normal layers. The variation of Pd is closely related to Ni, Co and REE in the event layers, but not to these elements in the normal layers. It indicates that these excess elements came from the same source, i.e. the Tunguska explosion body. In addition, the patterns of Cl-chondrite-normalized REE in the event layers ((La/Yb)N23) are much flatter than those in the normal layers ((La/Yb)N7143), and differ from those in the three basalt samples. The concentrations of REE in the three basalt samples are tens times higher than those in the event layers. It may be inferred that these excess elements could not be produced by the contamination of the terrestrial material, but probably by the Tunguska explosion body. Additionally, the ratios of Ti/Ni and Sr/Co in the event layers are close to those in comet. It implies that the solid part of the explosion body was compositionally similar to carbonaceous chondrites (Cl) and more probably a small comet. In terms of the Pd excess fluxes in the explosion area, it can be estimated that the celestial body that exploded over Tunguska in 1908 weighed more than 107 tons, corresponding to a radius of 126 m.
Keywords: Tunguska explosion, trace elements, geochemistry.

On June 30, 1908, a great explosion occurred in the sky over the Tunguska area in Central Siberia (6055h 101 57h which interested greatly many scientists, blew down the trees over N, E), an area of 2150 square kilometers near the epicenter[1]. However, no crater and debris, which could indicate the characteristic of the explosion body, has ever been discovered during any of the expeditions. So far, the cause of Tunguska explosion has been debated. Many scientists supposed that it was caused by an extraterrestrial body, for example a carbonous asteroid [2], a stony asteroid[3], and a comet[4] and others. If the Tunguska explosion was caused by a celestial body exploded in the sky, the remains of the impactor would fall down the ground. In fact, according to the turbidity of the atmosphere recorded by Mount Wilson Observatory in California, Fesenkov[5] calculated that about one million

1030

SCIENCE IN CHINA (Series D)

Vol. 44

tons of cosmic materials were globally dispersed . Therefore, in determining the Tunguska Cosmic Body (TCB) nature, one of the most effective methods is to find and study its remnants. The presence of cosmic matter in the terrestrial sediments is usually indicated by the enrichment of PGEs and some other siderophile elements, because the content of PGEs in extraterrestrial material is about 104105 times higher than that in earth crust[6]. Some experimental evidence on PGEs in the remains of TCB has been put forward. In an Antarctic ice layer at the depth corresponding to the Tunguska event, Ganapathy[7] found a sharp increase of Ir content. However, such an anomaly was not discovered in the same layers of Antarctic ice by Rochia et al.[8]. Affirmatively, the most probable site where the remains of the explosion could be found is the Tunguska explosion area. Korina et al.[2] analyzed a peat column, sampled at the south peat bog, using neutron activation analysis (NAA), and discovered a small Ir anomaly (17.21012 g/g) in the event layer. This anomaly was 4 times higher than the indigenous background value of 3.81012g/g and was considered to be caused by the Tunguska explosion. In fact, such a low Ir anomaly still points to the presence of cosmic matter in the peat. Nazarov et al.[9] discovered successfully the excess Ir in the event layers too. In 1999, Rasmussen et al. analyzed four adjoining peat cores at the explosion epicenter, and found the anomalies of Ir and 14C at the same depth. Hou et al.[10] analyzed a peat column, sampled at the north peat bog, using NAA, and discovered a sharp Ir anomaly (0.240.54109 g/g) in the event layer. So far, the investigation of PGEs about Tunguska explosion event has been focused on iridium. However, Hou et al.[11] detected ten samples picked from the column at the North peat bog, by ICP-MS, and firstly found the anomalies of Ru, Rh and Pd . Unfortunately, they could not discuss thoroughly the characteristics of elemental variation, because the amount of samples was less. In this work, we chose twenty-two peat samples from the same column, which Hou et al.[11] used, to determine the concentrations of Pd, Co, Ni, Y, Sr, Ti and REE. The objective of this research was to re-confirm the presence of excess Pd, to investigate detailedly the characteristics of elemental variation in peat across the catastrophic layer, and to discuss deeply the cause of the Tunguska explosion. 1 Sample collection and analytical procedures

The peat column used in this work was sampled from 0 to 65 cm depth below the present surface at the north peat bog, about 2 km north of the explosion epicenter (fig. 1 in ref. [12]). Three basalt samples (1k, 3k and 4k) were collected near the site where the peat column was sampled. In order to determine the depth of the catastrophic peat layer of 1908, Muldiyarov and Lapshina[13] figured out that the sedimentary rates of peat layers from 1870 to 1927 were in a range of 0.30.5 cm/a. The samples were taken at an interval of 3 cm in the peat core (table 1) and cleaned of roots

No. 11

GEOCHEMICAL EVIDENCE FOR THE TUNGUSKA EXPLOSION BODY

1031

Fig. 1. Elemental abundances of the peat core at the epicenter of the Tunguska catastrophe. Ti, Ni, Sr, and REE: 108 g/g; Y and Co: 107 g/g.

Table 1
Sample No. T1 T2 T3 T4 T5 T6 T7 T8 T9 T10 T11 T12 T13 T14 T15 T16 T17 T18 T19 T20 T21 T22 Depth / cm (Below present surface) 0 3 6 9 12 15 18 21 24 27 30 33 36 39 42 45 48 51 54 57 60 63

Parameters for pretreatments

Dry weight/g 0.70659 0.56470 0.49844 0.64128 0.54092 0.58474 0.63032 0.73660 0.58697 0.84823 0.70325 1.09642 2.83236 1.53996 1.71372 1.30531 1.17585 1.44013 1.60542 2.02305 2.02503 1.97033 Ash weight/mg 13.31 8.68 5.67 6.83 4.64 4.42 4.46 4.36 3.54 4.31 3.22 6.44 63.66 28.75 31.67 20.75 15.31 21.34 25.49 32.38 32.00 25.48 Ash yields (%) 1.88 1.54 1.34 1.07 0.86 0.76 0.71 0.59 0.60 0.51 0.46 0.59 2.25 1.79 1.89 1.51 1.30 1.48 1.59 1.60 1.58 1.29

sticks, leaves and so on before analysis. The pre-treatment procedures of the 22 peat samples are to: (1) dry at 105k for 4 h, (2) carbonize (200k, 2h) and ash (500k, 5h) respectively (ash yields, see table 1), (3) transfer the ash to Teflon vessel and add 1 mL HF, (4) vaporize to nearly dryness at 100 k, (5) add 6 mL aqua regia and dissolve completely at 100k or so, (6) add 1 mL perchloric acid and vaporize to nearly dryness again, (7) dissolved in 1 mL HNO3 and deionized wa-

1032

SCIENCE IN CHINA (Series D)

Vol. 44

ter, (8) transfer the solution to 25 mL volumetric flask and dilute to the mark with deionized water, and (9)determine the solution using a VG-PQ2 ICP-MS. The analytical results are listed in table 2. All these analytical procedures were done in Laboratory of Lithosphere Tectonic Evolution, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Standard reference material GSR-1 was analyzed to control the analytical quality for the elements except for Pd. Because of lack of suitable reference materials for examining the quality of PGEs, we set up an analytical method about PGEs specially for the peat samples[14]. The procedural detection limits are 0.06 ng/mL for 101Ru, 0.01ng/mL for 103Rh, 0.001 ng/mL for 105Pd, 0.001 ng/mL for 193Ir and 0.002 ng/mL for 195Pt. 2 Results It can be seen from table 2 and fig. 1 that the concentrations of Pd, Ni, Co, Ti, Y and REE in the samples from T13 to T19 (corresponding to the depth range of 3654 cm, namely event layers) are much higher than the background value. Rasmussen et al.[4] discovered the excess Ir at similar depth in another peat column at the epicenter. The concentration (317.4109g/g) of Pd in the sample T13 (corresponding to the depth of 36 cm, namely catastrophic layer) is 10 times higher than the background value. Moreover, the concentrations of other elements are respectively 4 times for Ti, 8 times for Ni, 10 times for Co, 35 times for Y and 15 times for REE higher than their background values (fig. 1). However, the concentrations of elements below the depth of 36 cm tend to descend, and those of Pd, Co, Ni, and REE decreased by 6, 5, 3, and 9 times, respectively, from the depth of 36 cm to 63 cm. Because the peat is quite porous, there is no doubt that some downwards percolation of soluble and insoluble material have taken place from a depositional layer to the underlying layers. Therefore, the element anomalies present at and below the catastrophic layer event and the concentrations of elements in these layers drop down gradually (fig. 1). Additionally, the position of anomaly for Sr is different from those for other elements. The possible cause is that the properties of Sr and its compounds are different from those of other elements, but exact cause is still uncertain now. 3 3.1 Discussion Origin of element anomalies

The mechanisms of the element anomalies near the event layers are not beyond such possibilities as following: (1) increased meteoric ablation; (2) decreased sedimentary rate; (3) contaminated terrestrial material; and (4) extraterrestrial material accretion associated with the Tunguska explosion. Increase in meteoric ablation and/or decrease in sedimentary rate can increase the concentrations of high melting point metal elements (e.g. PGEs) in the sediments, because their concentra-

Table 2 Analytical results of the peat samples (from T1 to T22) in the Tunguska explosion area, and of the three basalt samples (1k, 3k, 4k) and the reference material (GSR-1)a)
Sample No. Co Ni Pd Ti Sr Y La Ce Pr Nd Sm Eu Gd Tb Dy Ho Er Tm Yb Lu T1 T2 T3 T4 T5 T6 0.11 T7 T8 T9 T10 T11 T12 T13 1.60 5.69 T14 1.09 3.69 T15 0.90 3.11 T16 0.74 2.16 T17 0.54 1.65 T18 0.45 1.69 T19 T20 T21 0.31 1.56 74.1 T22 0.33 1.66 49.8 1k 63.3 140.1 3k 39.8 19.0 4k 45.7 13.5 Ref. GSR-1 value 3.5 3.4 3.4 2.3

0.08 0.10 0.09 0.10 0.11

0.11 0.10 0.08 0.10 0.09 0.19

0.50 0.35 1.79 1.58

0.88 0.70 0.37 0.53 0.46 0.38 0.52 0.43 0.33 0.65 0.43 0.76 21.6 23.5 21.3 22.3 23.2 24.0 23.0 22.6 30.5 27.6 39.3 19.4 5.66 8.99 7.92 10.97 11.49 8.30 6.82 4.68 3.80 4.99 3.05 4.08 7.59 5.73 4.90 4.67 4.29 3.70 3.24 3.19 2.98 3.68 4.21 6.45 0.07 0.08 0.06 0.08 0.08 0.07 0.07 0.06 0.06 0.05 0.03 0.05

317.4 229.8 223.1 186.1 135.8 139.4 113.1 95.1 25.12 17.60 17.53 11.64 3.61 20.19 19.24 22.23 3.01 2.21 2.11 1.35

108.0 132.4 89.9 145.9 127.6 184.8 182.1 150.4 124.4 160.4 167.8 93.1 1080.0 855.4 976.4 557.0 15.3 17.3 ?? ?? 7.3 1.4 6.6 1.6 6.5 0.8 2.3 1.0 ?? ?? 6.5 1.2 4.7 2.3 8.6 0.9 4.1 0.9 3.6 15.3 ?? ?? 7.3 0.3 0.8 1.3 7.7 1.2 2.7 0.8 ?? ?? 6.1 2.0 7.6 2.1 7.2 1.1 2.5 0.7 8.4 22.3 25.8 22.1 12.0 26.6 21.0 12.6 ?? ?? 4.0 1.5 4.9 2.0 9.0 1.2 3.4 1.0 ?? ?? 5.0 1.7 6.2 1.3 7.5 0.9 3.1 0.8 ?? ?? 4.2 1.4 5.4 1.3 6.1 0.8 5.3 0.8 ?? ?? 3.6 1.2 3.3 1.6 5.9 0.9 2.2 0.9 ?? ?? 3.0 1.0 0.7 0.8 4.0 0.7 2.3 0.6 ?? ?? 4.3 1.5 5.2 1.2 5.1 0.8 3.3 0.7 ?? ?? 1.5 0.1 0.2 2.6 0.3 0.7 0.3 ?? ?? 3.8 1.3 5.2 1.6 5.8 0.6 3.7 0.6

n <0.25 <0.25 <0.25 <0.25 9.92 9.36 10.49 8.91 12.53 8.24 10837.8 5634.8 8534.3 1743.5 1738.3 24.96 21.96 18.24 10.01 17.24 18.15 210.5 203.5 207.4 127.4 106.0 0.84 0.61 0.38 0.16 0.20 0.16 32.8 50.6 68.2 58.7 62.0 311.1 241.0 227.8 219.5 318.5 229.9 9.8 21.4 27.0 57.5 54.0 51.2 3.3 15.6 4.6 1.6 5.8 1.0 6.0 1.3 3.7 5.4 3.3 0.5 51.6 6.8 30.9 8.4 2.6 10.4 1.7 10.3 2.2 6.1 0.9 5.2 0.8 2.5 60.9 136.6 108.0 8.3 38.4 10.0 3.1 13.2 2.1 13.5 2.8 8.0 1.2 7.2 1.1 2.2 13.9 49.7 10.8 1.0 11.3 1.8 10.7 2.2 6.9 1.1 7.6 1.2 4.4 12.7 47.0 9.7 0.9 9.3 1.7 10.2 2.1 6.5 1.1 7.4 1.2 4.3 75.0 78.3 25.3 15.4 89.5 20.0 62.4 9.6 62.2 9.6 2.3 58.4 38.3 53.6 21.1 18.9 10.7 15.8 7.8 8.0 2.7 9.7 5.3 6.4 3.0 3.5 7.0 76.5 41.3 62.2 29.6 49.3 19.0 49.7 18.7 69.7 44.1 14.3 56.8 7.1 37.5 7.4 21.4 3.4 17.6 2.9 10.8 50.4 78.9 32.9 10.9 44.9 5.4 28.5 5.9 17.1 2.6 13.2 2.0 10.3

234.2 287.3 190.6 274.8 255.1 394.6 406.5 321.8 242.8 320.9 276.9 193.8 2779.0 2128.0 2340.0 1338.0 762.4 566.4 487.1 387.7 649.4 483.0 430.1 315.6 325.9 185.0 107.0 491.8 344.3 331.2 192.7 106.5 122.2 82.2 108.8 49.7 45.8 2.1 92.2 60.2 75.2 35.0 31.2 2.5 87.5 56.2 69.5 30.7 27.9 3.2 50.7 34.0 44.1 19.2 17.3 2.9 31.6 21.6 26.0 81.1 12.2 75.8 11.8 2.4 2006.0 1344.0 1382.0 706.0 298.1 202.6 119.8 16.1 160.1

13.9 22.7 10.1 17.2 11.2 18.5 20.3 13.3 14.1 15.7 12.2 14.9

561.3 412.4 384.3 240.2 142.9 105.1 469.4 339.4 322.5 200.3 122.0 332.2 227.0 206.2 127.1 308.8 202.8 182.4 113.8

(La/Yb)N 28.5 19.0 20.0 35.0 22.3 34.9 20.4 41.4 32.4 28.5 143.2 14.8 REE 398.8 512.5 336.8 504.6 452.3 670.9

684 550.5 438.4 574.4 524.3 357.9 9185.0 6693.0 6946.0 4012.0 2245.0 1701.0 1358.0 913.4 1483.0 1054.0

1.75 113.2 159.3 196.9 312.5 271.6

a) The analysis was made by using ICP-MS. The concentrations are in 10? 6 g/g for Co, Ni, Ti, Sr and Y, and 10? 9 g/g for other elements in the peat samples; and 10?6 g/g for all elements in the basalt samples and reference materials. , no delection; n, no value.

1033

1034

SCIENCE IN CHINA (Series D)

Vol. 44

tions, especially for PGEs, in the extraterrestrial materials are much higher than those in the earths crust. Ganapathy[7] analyzed the ablation spheres separated from red clay sediment sampled from the mid-Pacific Ocean and found that there was no correlation between Ir and Ni in the black and shiny metallic ablation spherules. That is to say, there is not correlation among the siderophile elements in the meteoric ablation materials because they come from different extraterrestrial bodies. In contrast, there are positive correlations between Pd and Ni (fig. 2(a)), Pd and Co (fig. 2(c)) in the event layers of Tunguska explosion but not in normal layers (fig. 2(c), (d)), which may indicate that the excess Pd, Ni and Co came from a common source. Therefore, the anomalies of these elements were not caused by increased meteoric ablation and/or decreased sedimentary rate.

Fig. 2. Correlations between Pd and Ni, Co, REE , respectively, in the peat layers of the Tunguska peat column. (a), (c) and (e) are the correlations between Pd and Ni, Co, REE, respectively, in the event layers, and (b), (d) for the normal layers.

The anomalies of these elements observed cannot be explained by contamination of peat with

No. 11

GEOCHEMICAL EVIDENCE FOR THE TUNGUSKA EXPLOSION BODY

1035

mineral (e.g. those in rocks). The REE concentrations in the event layers are tens times lower than those in the three basalt samples (fig. 1, table 2). The patterns of Cl-chondrite-normalized REE in the event layers are distinctly different from those in the three basalt samples (fig. 3). In this work, we did not detect any Pd in the three basalt samples (table 2). It indicates that the sediments in the event layers are unlikely to be contaminated obviously by terrestrial materials.

Fig. 3. Patterns of Cl-chondrite-normalized REE of the 22 peat samples in the 1908 Tunguska explosion area and of the three basalt samples.

Additionally, we found that there is good correlation between Pd and REE in the event layers (fig. 2(e)). The patterns of Cl-chondrite-normalized REE in the event layers are flatter than those in normal layers (fig. 3): the ratios of (La/Yb)N are about 2.13.2 in the event layers, and about 7.0143.2 in the normal layers (table 2). Therefore, we suggest that the anomalies of elements in the event layers are probably caused by extraterrestrial material accretion associated with the Tunguska explosion, and the explosion body was likely to be compositionally similar to Cl chondrites. Characteristics of TCB The results of the spacecraft missions to Halleys comet point to a composition of cometary dust similar to Cl chondrites, but with higher C (in fact 12 times) and other volatile elements[15]. The ratios of Ti/Ni (4.4) and Sr/Co (2.3) in the catastrophic layer in the Tunguska explosion area are close to that in Halley (0.84)[16] and/or in the meteoritic ice from southeastern China (1.1)[17], but 100 times higher than those in Cl (0.04 and 0.014, respectively) [18] and tens times 3.2

1036

SCIENCE IN CHINA (Series D)

Vol. 44

lower than those in the earths crust (150 and 35, respectively)[19]. The Pd/Co ratio of 0.2 is comparatively near to that of 1.1103 in Cl [18], which compares with the ratio of 5105 in the earths crust[19]. Unfortunately, we could not get the ratio in comet. Therefore, the Tunguska explosion body (TCB) was more likely to be a comet. On the basis of Pd concentration of 113.1317.4 ng/g in the event peat layers (3654 cm deep) and 19.495.1 ng/g in the normal peat layers from the North swamp of the Tunguska explosion site and the density of dried samples (0.12g/cm3), the flux of excess Pd in Tunguska area can be estimated to be 340 ng/cm2. If this represents the average flux of excess Pd overall explosion area, i.e. 2000 km2, the fallout of palladium resulting from the TCB explosion should be 6.4106 g. Because the TCB had exploded in the sky, its density must have been quite low (about 1.1 g/cm3)[7]. If, as discussed above, the Tunguska explosion body was compositionally similar to carbonaceous chondrite (Cl, Pd concentration 560109g/g)[18], it can be estimated that the chondritic material (solid component) of the explosive body weighed about 107 tons. This corresponds to a radius of 126 m. These results are close to those (a diameter of 160 m, 7106 tons in weight[7]) Ganapathy estimated. On the basis of the anomalies of REE, we can apply the same method to estimate that the explosive body weighed about 7107 tons and its radius was 250 m, which are approximative to those estimated above. However, the results are a bit higher than those estimated by the excess palladium. The cause is probably that the REE in the event layers were contaminated slightly by the terrestrial materials. If the TCB was a comet, and carbonaceous chondrite material (i.e. cometary dust) might constitute no more than 5% of the total mass of a comet[20], then the total mass of the TCB was about 2108 tons and its radius was 356 m. It is no doubt that a large portion of the TCB material probably was dispersed widely during the explosion, or even a large area of the earths surface, because the explosion had taken place at 8 km altitude in the sky [21]. Therefore, these estimates are minimum. 4 Conclusion According to the characteristics of the anomalies for Pd, Ni, Co, Sr, Y, Ti, and REE and the correlations between Pd and Ni, Co, REE, respectively, in the event layers, these excess elements were likely resulted from the Tunguska Cosmic Body (TCB) explosion of 1908. Based on the relatively flat patterns of Cl-chondrite-normalized REE in the event layers and the characteristics of the ratios of Ti/Ni, Sr/Co, and Pd/Co, it is inferred that the Tunguska explosive body was composed of materials (solid components) similar to Cl chondrite, and most probably a cometary object, which weighed more than 107 tons and had a radius of more than 126 m.
Acknowledgements The authors are thankful to Prof. Zhou Xinhua for his help in writing, and Mrs. Yan Xin and Mrs. Wang Xiuli, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, for assistance with the measurements of elements. Dr. Zhong Hong is thanked for the very useful discussion. This work was supported by the National Natural Science

No. 11

GEOCHEMICAL EVIDENCE FOR THE TUNGUSKA EXPLOSION BODY

1037

Foundation of China (Grant No. 40072046), Russian Foundation of Fundamental Investigations (Grant No. 99-05-39082), and Laboratory of Lithosphere Tectonic Evolution, Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. 0104).

References
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Fast, V. G., Bojakina, A. P., Baklanov, M. V., Destructions caused by blast wave of the Tunguska meteorite, in Problema Tunguskogo Meteorita (in Russian), Izdatelstvo Tomskogo Universeta, Tomsk, 1967, 62104. Korina, M. I., Nazarov, M. A., Barsukova, L. D. et al., Iridium distribution in the peat layers from area of Tunguska Event, Lunar Planet. Sci. Conf., 1987, 18: 501502. Chyba, C. F., Thomas, P. J., Zahnle, K. J., The 1908 Tunguska explosion: atmospheric disruption of a stony asteroid, Nature,1993, 361: 4044. Rasmussen, K. L., Olsen, H. J. F., Gwozdz, R. et al., Evidence for a very high carbon/iridium ratio in the Tunguska impactor, Meteoritics and Planetary Science, 1999, 34: 891895. Fesenkov, V. G., Meteorites and Meteor Matter (in Russian), Moscow: Nauka, 1978. Alvarez, L. W., Alvarez, W., Asaro, F. et al., Extraterrestrial cause for the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction, Science, 1980, 208(4448): 10951108. Ganapathy, R., The Tunguska Explosion of 1908: discovery of meteoritic debris near the explosion site and the South Pole, Science, 1983, 220: 11581161. Rochia, R., Angelis, M. de, Boclet, D. et al., Search for the Tunguska event in the Antarctic snow, global catastrophes in earth history, in An Interdisciplinary Conference on Impact, Volcanism and Mass Mortality, Snowbird, UT, USA, 1988, 165157. 9. 10. 11. Nazarov, M. A., Korina, M. I., Barsukova, L. D. et al., Meteoritic and Solar, Geochim. Costochim. Acta, 1989, 53:197 241. Hou, Q. L., Ma, P. X., Kolesnikov, E. M., Discovery of iridium and other element anomalies near the 1908 Tunguska explosion site, Planet Space Sci., 1998, 46(2/3): 179188. Hou, Q. L., Kolesnilov, E. M., Xie, L. W. et al., Discovery of probable Tunguska Cosmic Body material: anomalies of platinum group elements and REE in peat near the explosion site (1908), Plantary and Space Science, 2000, 48(15):1447 1455. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. Kolesnikov, E. W., Boettger, T., Kolesnikova, N. V., Finding of probable Tunguska cosmic material: isotopic anomalies of carbon and hydrogen in peat, Planet. Space Sci., 1999, 47: 905916. Muldiyarov, E. Ya., Lapshina, E. D., Dating of upper layers of peat bog applied for cosmic aerosol investigation, in Meteorite and Meteor Investigations (in Russian), Novosibirsk: Nauka, 1983, 7584. Xie Liewen, Hou Quanlin, Yan Xin et al., Determination of ultra-trace PGEs in the sediments near the Tunguska explosion site by ICP-MS, Rock and Mineral Analysis (in Chinese with English abstract), 2001, 20(2): 8890. Jesssberger, E. K., Kissel, J., Fechtig, H. et al., On the average chemical composition of cometary dust, Comet Nucl. Sample Retum Mission. Eur. Space Agency. Proc. Workshop, Canternury, 1986, 2730. Jesberger, E. K., Christoforidis, A., Kissel, J. et al., Aspects of the major element composition of Halleys dust, Nature, 1988, 332: 691. Mao, X. Y., Chai, C. F., Ma, S. L. et al., Determination of trace elements in Wuxi fallen ice by INAA, J. Radional Nucl. Chem., 1987, 114(2): 345349. Anders, E., Grevesse N., Abundance of the elements: Meteoritic and Solar, Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 1989, 53: 197 241. Taylor, S. R., Mclennan, S. M., The continental crust: its composition and evolution, Oxford: Blackwell Scientific Publications, 1985. Rusmussen, K. L., Clausen, H. B., Kallemeyn, G. W., No iridium anomaly after the 1908 Tunguska impact: Evidence from a Greenland ice core, Meteorites, 1995, 30(6): 634638. Turco, R. P., An analysis of the physical, chemical, optical, and historical impact of the 1908 Tunguska meteor fall, Icarus, 1982, 50(1): 152.