Role of disk galaxies in the chemical enrichment of the intracluster medium

Elliptical galaxies are often assumed to be the primary source of heavy elements in the intracluster medium (ICM), with the contribution of other morphological types being negligible. In this paper we argue that a role of spiral galaxies in the chemical evolution of the ICM is also important. This statement rests upon our recent calculations of the heavy element loss from a disk galaxy through the hot steady-state galactic wind and dust grains expulsion by stellar radiation pressure. We show that a typical disk galaxy is nearly as effective in enriching the ICM as an elliptical galaxy of the same mass. Having estimated the oxygen and iron loss from a single galaxy, we integrate them over the galactic mass spectrum. We show that the "effective" loss (per unit luminosity) from spiral galaxies is comparable to the loss from ellipticals. The dominant role of early-type galaxies in rich clusters is caused by that they outnumber spirals.