  The elemental composition of the Sun's hot atmosphere, the corona, shows a
distinctive pattern that is different than the underlying surface, or
photosphere (Pottasch 1963). Elements that are easy to ionize in the
chromosphere are enhanced in abundance in the corona compared to their
photospheric values. A similar pattern of behavior is often observed in the
slow speed (< 500 km/s) solar wind (Meyer 1985), and in solar-like stellar
coronae (Drake et al. 1997), while a reversed effect is seen in M-dwarfs
(Liefke et al. 2008). Studies of the inverse effect have been hampered in the
past because only unresolved (point source) spectroscopic data were available
for these stellar targets. Here we report the discovery of several inverse
events observed in-situ in the slow solar wind using particle counting
techniques. These very rare events all occur during periods of high solar
activity that mimic conditions more widespread on M-dwarfs. The detections
allow a new way of connecting the slow wind to its solar source, and are
broadly consistent with theoretical models of abundance variations due to
chromospheric fast mode waves with amplitudes of 8-10 km/s; sufficient to
accelerate the solar wind. The results imply that M-dwarf winds are dominated
by plasma depleted in easily ionized elements, and lend credence to previous
spectroscopic measurements.
