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Description
We draw upon a recent study of the membership of the Ursa Major Group (UMaG) to examine lithium among 0.3 Gyr old solar-type stars. For most G and K dwarfs, Li confirms the conclusions about membership in UMaG reached on the basis of kinematics and chromospheric activity. G and K dwarfs in UMaG have less Li than comparable stars in the Pleiades. This indicates that G and K dwarfs undergo Li depletion while they are on the main sequence, in addition to any pre-main-sequence depletion they may have experienced. Moreover, the Li abundances of the Pleiades K dwarfs cannot be attributed to main-sequence depletion alone, demonstrating that pre-main-sequence depletion of Li also takes place. The Sun's Li abundance implies that the main-sequence mechanism becomes less effective with age, otherwise the Sun would have even less Li than it does. The hottest stars in the UMaG (T(eff) >~ 6800K) have Li abundances like those of hot stars in the Pleiades and Hyades and in T Tauris, and the two genuine UMaG members with temperatures near Boesgaard's Li chasm have Li abundances consistent with that chasm developing fully by 0.3 Gyr for stars with UMaG's metallicity ([Fe/H] = -0.08 +/- 0.09). We see differences in the abundance of Li between UMaG members of the same spectral types, indicating that a real spread in the lithium abundance exists within this group.
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