[3] The impact likely evaporated 150 km3 (36 cu mi) of water, generating large tsunami waves hundreds of metres high.

[6] Sediment at the bottom of the five km (3 mi) deep ocean in the area had an iridium enrichment, a strong sign of extraterrestrial contamination.

Above this is SU II layer with meteorite fragments and graded silt and clay that plausibly settled out of still but dirty water.

[7] The supposed impacting body, the Eltanin asteroid, is estimated to have been between one and four km (0.6 and 2.5 mi) in diameter and traveling with a speed of 20 km/s (45,000 mph).

Assuming that there were 187 parts per billion of iridium in the asteroid, the known distribution of the metal leads to estimates that the body was over one km (0.6 mi) in size.

The impact and disruption to the weather could have triggered the start of ice cap formation in the Northern Hemisphere.

[11] The impact would have put a large amount of water and salt into the atmosphere, disrupted ice shelves, depleted the ozone layer, caused surface acidification, and increased the Earth's albedo.