  We have derived Fe abundances of 16 solar-type Pleiades dwarfs by means of an
equivalent width analysis of Fe I and Fe II lines in high-resolution spectra
obtained with the Hobby - Eberly Telescope and High Resolution Spectrograph.
Abundances derived from Fe II lines are larger than those derived from Fe I
lines (herein referred to as over-ionization) for stars with Teff < 5400 K, and
the discrepancy (deltaFe = [Fe II/H] - [Fe I/H]) increases dramatically with
decreasing Teff, reaching over 0.8 dex for the coolest stars of our sample. The
Pleiades joins the open clusters M 34, the Hyades, IC 2602, and IC 2391, and
the Ursa Major moving group, demonstrating ostensible over-ionization trends.
The Pleiades deltaFe abundances are correlated with Ca II infrared triplet and
Halpha chromospheric emission indicators and relative differences therein.
Oxygen abundances of our Pleiades sample derived from the high-excitation O I
triplet have been previously shown to increase with decreasing Teff, and a
comparison with the deltaFe abundances suggests that the over-excitation
(larger abundances derived from high excitation lines relative to low
excitation lines) and over-ionization effects that have been observed in cool
open cluster and disk field main sequence (MS) dwarfs share a common origin.
Star-to-star Fe I abundances have low internal scatter, but the abundances of
stars with Teff < 5400 K are systematically higher compared to the warmer
stars. The cool star [Fe I/H] abundances cannot be connected directly to
over-excitation effects, but similarities with the deltaFe and O I triplet
trends suggest the abundances are dubious. Using the [Fe I/H] abundances of
five stars with Teff > 5400 K, we derive a mean Pleiades cluster metallicity of
[Fe/H] = +0.01 +/- 0.02.
