Isotopes of cosmic ray elements from neon to nickel

Results obtained from a balloon exposure of a cosmic ray detector flown in 1977 are reported. The charge resolution ranged from 0.19 to 0.21 charge units between neon and nickel and the mass resolution for nuclei stopped in the emulsions ranged from 0.40 to 0.70 amu for A between 20 and 60 amu. This was enough to correctly identify almost all nuclei, but not to uniquely resolve neighboring mass peaks. Both Ne and Mg show evidence for neutron enrichment relative to the solar system abundance. Si and S are consistent with solar abundances, while Ar has no significant source abundances. P, Cl and K have essentially no primary component and the isotopic distribution observed is quite consistent with that expected from propagation. An excess of Ca-44 at the source is shown, indicating high metallicity in the source. The abundance of Fe-58 is nine percent or less, and Ni shows a one-to-one ratio for Ni-58 to 60, implying intermediate metallicity.