Abstract. We discuss the occurrences of Iridium, high-pressure phase of fullerene and other
carbonaceous matter in the Earth close to the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary (KPB) in India
along with other mineralogical data. Several sources of fullerenes at the KPB have been
proposed, including an impact origin . The presence of toluene-insoluble high-pressure phase
of fullerene C60 in the acid resistant carbonaceous matter extracted from the iridium-rich layers
of the Intertrappean sediments of Anjar, India, has been characterized by ultra violet-visible
and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopic techniques. The FT-IR spectroscopic
measurements on the insoluble fullerenes show strong absorption peaks at 1381,741, 608, and
542 cm-1 wavenumbers, that are characteristic of a non-hydrostatic high pressure and
temperature phase of C60 fullerene. The presence of Ir-rich layers, associated with highpressure
phase of fullerene, at Anjar strongly support impact- metamorphism at the KPB.