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Description
We present detailed chemical abundances for 99 Red Giant Branch stars in the centre of the Sculptor dwarf spheroidal galaxy, which have been obtained from high-resolution VLT/FLAMES spectroscopy. The abundances of Li, Na, alpha-elements (O, Mg, Si, Ca Ti), iron-peak elements (Sc, Cr, Fe, Co, Ni, Zn), r- and s-process elements (Ba, La, Nd, Eu) were all derived using stellar atmosphere models and semi-automated analysis techniques. The iron abundances, covering the range -2.3<[Fe/H]<-0.9, populate the whole metallicity distribution of the galaxy with the exception of the very low metallicity tail. There is a marked decrease in [{alpha}/Fe] over our sample, from the Galactic halo plateau value at low [Fe/H] and then, after a 'knee', a decrease to sub-solar [alpha/Fe] at high [Fe/H]. This is consistent with products of core-collapse supernovae dominating at early times, followed by the onset of supernovae type Ia as early as ~12Gyr ago. The products from low-mass AGB stars, as traced by the s-process, also participate in the chemical evolution of Sculptor with a timescale comparable to that of supernovae type Ia. However, the r-process is consistent with having no time delay relative to core-collapse supernovae, at least at the later stages of the chemical evolution in Sculptor. Using the simple and well-behaved chemical evolution of Sculptor, we further derive empirical constraints on the relative importance of massive stars and supernovae type Ia to the nucleosynthesis of individual iron-peak and alpha-elements. The most important contribution of supernovae typeIa is to the iron-peak elements: Fe, Cr and Mn; but there is also a modest but non-negligible contribution to both the heavier alpha-elements: S, Ca and Ti, and some of the iron-peak elements: Sc and Co. We see only very small or no contribution to O, Mg, Ni and Zn from supernovae type Ia in Sculptor. The observed chemical abundances in Sculptor show no evidence of a significantly different initial mass function, compared to that of the Milky Way. With the exception of neutron-capture elements at low [Fe/H], the scatter around mean trends in Sculptor for [Fe/H]>-2.3 is extremely low, and compatible with observational errors. Combined with the small scatter in the age-elemental abundances relation, this calls for an efficient mixing of metals in the gas in the centre of Sculptor since ~12Gyr ago.
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