  Ponderomotive acceleration has been asserted to be a cause of the First
Ionization Potential (FIP) effect, the by now well known enhancement in
abundance by a factor of 3-4 over photospheric values of elements in the solar
corona with FIP less than about 10 eV. It is shown here by means of numerical
simulations that ponderomotive acceleration occurs in solar coronal loops, with
the appropriate magnitude and direction, as a "byproduct" of coronal heating.
The numerical simulations are performed with the HYPERION code, which solves
the fully compressible three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic equations
including nonlinear thermal conduction and optically thin radiation. Numerical
simulations of a coronal loops with an axial magnetic field from 0.005 Teslas
to 0.02 Teslas and lengths from 25000 km to 75000 km are presented. In the
simulations the footpoints of the axial loop magnetic field are convected by
random, large-scale motions. There is a continuous formation and dissipation of
field-aligned current sheets which act to heat the loop. As a consequence of
coronal magnetic reconnection, small scale, high speed jets form. The familiar
vortex quadrupoles form at reconnection sites. Between the magnetic footpoints
and the corona the reconnection flow merges with the boundary flow. It is in
this region that the ponderomotive acceleration occurs. Mirroring the character
of the coronal reconnection, the ponderomotive acceleration is also found to be
intermittent.
