First stars XII. Abundances in extremely metal-poor turnoff stars, and comparison with the giants

Abstract

Context. The detailed chemical abundances of extremely metal-poor (EMP) stars are key guides to understanding the early chemical evolution of the Galaxy. Most existing data, however, treat giant stars that may have experienced internal mixing later.Aims. We aim to compare the results for giants with new, accurate abundances for all observable elements in 18 EMP turnoff stars.Methods. VLT/UVES spectra at R - 45000 and S/N - 130 per pixel (λλ 330-1000 nm) are analysed with OSMARCS model atmospheres and the TURBOSPECTRUM code to derive abundances for C, Mg, Si, Ca, Sc, Ti, Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Zn, Sr, and Ba.Results. For Ca, Ni, Sr, and Ba, we find excellent consistency with our earlier sample of EMP giants, at all metallicities. However, our abundances of C, Sc, Ti, Cr, Mn and Co are -0.2 dex larger than in giants of similar metallicity. Mg and Si abundances are -0.2 dex lower (the giant [Mg/Fe] values are slightly revised), while Zn is again -0.4 dex higher than in giants of similar [Fe/H] (6 stars only).Conclusions. For C, the dwarf/giant discrepancy could possibly have an astrophysical cause, but for the other elements it must arise from shortcomings in the analysis. Approximate computations of granulation (3D) effects yield smaller corrections for giants than for dwarfs, but suggest that this is an unlikely explanation, except perhaps for C, Cr, and Mn. NLTE computations for Na and Al provide consistent abundances between dwarfs and giants, unlike the LTE results, and would be highly desirable for the other discrepant elements as well. Meanwhile, we recommend using the giant abundances as reference data for Galactic chemical evolution models. © 2009 ESO.