Let ℰ be an ample vector
bundle of rank n− 2 ≥ 2 on a complex projective manifold X of dimension n having
a section whose zero locus is a smooth surface Z. We determine the structure of pairs
(X,ℰ) as above under the assumption that Z is a properly elliptic surface. This
generalizes known results on threefolds containing an elliptic surface as a smooth
ample divisor. Among the applications we prove a conjecture relating the
Kodaira dimension of X to that of Z, and we show that if 0 ≤ κ(Z) ≤ 1,
then pg(Z) > 0 unless X is a ℙn−2-bundle over a smooth surface S with
pg(S) = 0.