Published online by Cambridge University Press: 26 May 2016
We discuss the connection between wind overloading and discrete absorption components in P-Cygni line profiles from O-type stars. Overloading can create horizontal plateaus in the radial wind speed that cause the extra absorption in the line profile. The upstream propagation speed of these velocity plateaus is analyzed. The second part of the paper deals with X-ray emission from O-type stars. X-ray line profiles observed with Chandra and XMM-Newton are often symmetric, contrary to what is expected for lines from a homogeneous wind. We discuss the influence on line symmetry of photon escape channels in a strongly clumped wind.