New Magellan Inamori Kyocera Echelle Observations of z<1.5 sub-damped
  Lyman-alpha systems
  The Damped and sub-Damped Lyman-alpha (DLA and sub-DLA) systems seen in the
spectra of QSOs offer a unique way to study the interstellar medium of high
redshift galaxies. In this paper we report on new abundance determinations in a
sample of 10 new systems, nine of the lesser studied sub-DLAs and one DLA,
along the line of sight to seven QSOs from spectra taken with the MIKE
spectrograph. Lines of Mg I, Mg II, Al II, Al III, Ca II, Mn II, Fe II, and Zn
II were detected. Here, we give the column densities and equivalent widths of
the observed absorption lines, as well as the abundances determined for these
systems. Zn, a relatively undepleted element in the local interstellar medium
(ISM) is detected in one system with a high metallicity of [Zn/H]=+0.27\pm0.18.
In one other system, a high abundance based on the more depleted element Fe is
seen with [Fe/H]=-0.37\pm0.13, although Zn is not detected. The N(HI)-weighted
mean metallicity of these sub-DLA systems based on Fe is <[Fe/H]>=-0.76\pm0.11,
nearly ~0.7 dex higher (a factor of 5) than what is seen in DLAs in this
redshift range. The relative abundance of [Mn/Fe] is also investigated. A clear
trend is visible for these systems as well as systems from the literature, with
[Mn/Fe] increasing with increasing metallicity in good agreement with with
Milky Way stellar abundances.
