ELEMENTAL COMPOSITION OF THE JANUARY 6, 1997, CME

Using solar wind particle data from the CELIAS/MTOF sensor on the SOHO mission, we studied the abundance of the elements O, Ne, Mg, Si, S, C a, and Fe for the time period around the January 6, 1997, coronal mass ejection event (CME). In the interstream and coronal hole regions bef ore and after this event we found elemental abundances consistent with the expected abundance patterns of the respective flow regimes. Howev er, during the passage of the CME and during the passage of the erupte d filament, which followed the CME, we found that the elemental compos ition differed markedly from the interstream and coronal hole regions before and after this event. During the passage of the CME and the pas sage of the erupted filament we found a mass-dependent element fractio nation, with a monotonic increase toward heavier elements. We observed Si/O and Fe/O abundance ratios of about one half during these time pe riods, which is significantly higher than for typical solar wind.