Study of the galactic interstellar medium from high-resolution X-ray spectroscopy: X-ray absorption fine structure and abundances of O, Mg, Si, S, and Fe

We study the composition of the Galactic interstellar medium (ISM) toward the Galactic center region (5degrees < vertical bar l vertical bar < 20degrees) by utilizing X-ray absorption features of three bright low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs), GX 13+1, GX 5-1, and GX 340+0, observed with the Chandra HETGS. We detect X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) of the Si K edge, characterized by a narrow and a broad absorption feature at 1846 and approximate to1865 eV, respectively. Comparison with ground experimental data indicates that most of the ISM Si exists in the form of silicates, although a composition of "pure'' forsterite is ruled out. The XAFS spectra of the sulfur K edge indicate that a significant fraction of S exists in the gas phase. From each source, we derive the column densities of Mg, S, Si, and Fe from the K-edge depth and that of O ( or H) from the absorption of the continuum. The elemental abundance ratios are found to be consistent between the three targets: the mean values of O/Si, Mg/Si, S/Si, and Fe/Si are determined to be 0.63 +/- 0.17, 1.14 +/- 0.13, 1.03 +/- 0.12, and 0.97 +/- 0.31 solar, respectively (90% error in the mean value). We discuss the origins of the overabundances of the heavy metals relative to O in the Galactic ISM by comparison with the abundance pattern of the intracluster medium in clusters of galaxies. Assuming that most of the Mg and Si atoms are depleted into silicates of either the proxine or olivine family, we estimate that the number ratio of Mg to Fe in olivine is greater than or similar to1.2 and that 15%-37% of the total O atoms in the ISM must be contained in silicate grains.