Chemical Abundances in the Damped Lya Systems

Abstract

I introduce and review the data and analysis techniques used to measure abundances in the damped Lya systems, quasar absorption-line systems associated with galaxies in the early Universe. The observations and issues associated with their abundance analysis are very similar to those of the Milky Way's interstellar medium. We measure gas-phase abundances and are therefore subject to the effects of differential depletion. I review the impact of dust depletion and then present a summary of current results on the age-metallicity relation derived from damped Lya systems and new results impacting theories of nucleosynthesis in the early Universe.