MEASUREMENT OF THE ELEMENTAL ABUNDANCES IN 4 RICH CLUSTERS OF GALAXIES .2. THE INITIAL MASS FUNCTION AND MASS-LOSS IN ELLIPTIC GALAXIES, ENRICHMENT AND ENERGETICS IN THE ICM

We compare observations from the Advanced Satellite fop Cosmology and Astrophysics of abundances in the intracluster media in four clusters, as reported by Mushotzky and coworkers, with calculations of enrichme nt by protogalactic supernova-driven winds in a simple stellar populat ion with a power-law initial, mass function. Using the most recently c alculated yields from Type II supernovae, we find that we can account for the total observed amounts of iron, oxygen, and silicon if the ini tial mass function is significantly flatter than the Salpeter function . Some discrepancies with other elements are indicated. Model-independ ent implications for the origin and heating of the intracluster medium and for the energetics of protoelliptical galaxies are discussed.