Published online by Cambridge University Press: 23 December 2005
As part of a study of the detailed abundance patterns in extremely metal-poor stars, we have compared our samples of giants and dwarfs with two samples of dwarfs measured by different teams. For most elements the abundances are in good agreement, but for C, Na, and Al we show that the atmospheric abundances are different in dwarfs and in giants. For C the difference could be explained by “atmospheric effects” or by the influence of the first dredge-up, but for Na and Al deep mixing inside the stars must be invoked. Until now, such deep mixing has not been observed in metal-poor field stars. An excess scatter in [Mg/Fe] in giants remains unexplained.