Metal Column Densities Research Articles

HELIUM IN NATAL H II REGIONS: THE ORIGIN OF THE X-RAY ABSORPTION IN GAMMA-RAY BURST AFTERGLOWS

Soft X-ray absorption in excess of Galactic is observed in the afterglows of most gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), but the correct solution to its origin has not been arrived at after more than a decade of work, preventing its use as a powerful diagnostic tool. We resolve this long-standing problem and find that He in the GRB's host HII region is responsible for most of the absorption. We show that the X-ray absorbing column density (N_Hx) is correlated with both the neutral gas column density and with the optical afterglow extinction (Av). This correlation explains the connection between dark bursts and bursts with high N_Hx values. From these correlations we exclude an origin of the X-ray absorption which is not related to the host galaxy, i.e. the intergalactic medium or intervening absorbers are not responsible. We find that the correlation with the dust column has a strong redshift evolution, whereas the correlation with the neutral gas does not. From this we conclude that the column density of the X-ray absorption is correlated with the total gas column density in the host galaxy rather than the metal column density, in spite of the fact that X-ray absorption is typically dominated by metals. The strong redshift evolution of N_Hx/Av is thus a reflection of the cosmic metallicity evolution of star-forming galaxies. We conclude that the absorption of X-rays in GRB afterglows is caused by He in the HII region hosting the GRB. While dust is destroyed and metals are stripped of all of their electrons by the GRB to great distances, the abundance of He saturates the He-ionising UV continuum much closer to the GRB, allowing it to remain in the neutral or singly-ionised state. Helium X-ray absorption explains the correlation with total gas, the lack of strong evolution with redshift as well as the absence of dust, metal or hydrogen absorption features in the optical-UV spectra.

A METAL-STRONG AND DUST-RICH DAMPED Lyα ABSORPTION SYSTEM TOWARD THE QUASAR SDSS J115705.52+615521.7

(Abridged for arXiv) We report the discovery of an unusual, extremely dust-rich and metal-strong damped \lya absorption system (DLA) at a redshift $z_{a}=2.4596$ toward the quasar SDSS J115705.52+615521.7 (hereafter J1157+6155) with an emission-line redshift $z_{e}=2.5125$. Its neutral hydrogen column density $N_{\hi} = 10^{21.8\pm0.2}$ cm$^{-2}$ is among the highest values measured in quasar DLAs. The measured metal column density is $N_{ZnII}\approx 10^{13.8}$ cm$^{-2}$, which is about 1.5 times larger than the largest value in any previously observed quasar DLAs. The best-fit curve is a MW-like law with a significant broad feature centered around 2175 {\AA} in the rest frame of the absorber. The measured extinction $A_V \approx 0.92$ mag is unprecedentedly high in quasar DLAs. After applying an extinction correction, the $i$ band absolute magnitude of the quasar is as high as $M_{i} \approx -29.4$ mag, placing it one of the most luminous quasars ever known. This discovery is suggestive of the existence of a rare yet important population of dust-rich DLAs with both high metallicities and high column densities, which may have significant impact on the measurement of the cosmic evolution of neutral gas mass density and metallicity.

A massive bubble of extremely metal-poor gas around a collapsing Lyα blob at z = 2.54

Using long-slit optical spectroscopy obtained at the 10.4 m Gran Telescopio Canarias, we have examined the gaseous environment of the radio-loud quasar TXS 1436+157 (z=2.54), previously known to be associated with a large Ly-alpha nebula and a spatially extended Ly-alpha-absorbing structure. From the Ly-alpha nebula we measure kinematic properties consistent with infall at a rate of about 10-100 M./yr - more than sufficient to power a quasar at the top of the luminosity function. The absorbing structure lies outside of the Ly-alpha nebula, at a radius of >40 kpc from the quasar. Against the bright unresolved continuum and line emission from the quasar, we detect in absorption the NV 1239,1241, CIV 1548,1551 and SiIV 1394,1403 doublets, with no unambiguous detection of absorption lines from any low-ionization species of metal. The metal column densities, taken together with the HI column density measurement from the literature, indicate that the absorbing gas is predominantly ionized by the quasar, has a mass of hydrogen of >1.6 x 10E11 M., a gas density of <18 per cubic cm, a line of sight thickness of >18 pc, and a covering factor approaching unity. While this absorbing structure is clearly not composed of pristine gas, it has an extremely low metallicity, with ionization models providing a 3-sigma limit of 12+log(O/H)<7.3. To explain these results, we discuss a scenario involving starburst-driven super-bubbles and the creation of infalling filaments of cold gas which fuel/trigger the quasar. We also discuss the possibility of detecting large-scale absorbers such as this in emission when illuminated by a powerful quasar.

DUST EXTINCTION BIAS IN THE COLUMN DENSITY DISTRIBUTION OF GAMMA-RAY BURSTS: HIGH COLUMN DENSITY, LOW-REDSHIFT GRBs ARE MORE HEAVILY OBSCURED

The afterglows of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) have more soft X-ray absorption than expected from the foreground gas column in the Galaxy. While the redshift of the absorption can in general not be constrained from current X-ray observations, it has been assumed that the absorption is due to metals in the host galaxy of the GRB. The large sample of X-ray afterglows and redshifts now available allows the construction of statistically meaningful distributions of the metal column densities. We construct such a sample and show, as found in previous studies, that the typical absorbing column density (N_HX) increases substantially with redshift, with few high column density objects found at low to moderate redshifts. We show, however, that when highly extinguished bursts are included in the sample, using redshifts from their host galaxies, high column density sources are also found at low to moderate redshift. We infer from individual objects in the sample and from observations of blazars, that the increase in column density with redshift is unlikely to be related to metals in the intergalactic medium or intervening absorbers. Instead we show that the origin of the apparent increase with redshift is primarily due to dust extinction bias: GRBs with high X-ray absorption column densities found at $z\lesssim4$ typically have very high dust extinction column densities, while those found at the highest redshifts do not. It is unclear how such a strongly evolving N_HX/A_V ratio would arise, and based on current data, remains a puzzle.

Galaxy properties from the ultraviolet to the far-infrared: Λ cold dark matter models confront observations

We combine a semi-analytic model of galaxy formation with simple analytic recipes describing the absorption and re-emission of starlight by dust in the interstellar medium of galaxies. We use the resulting models to predict galaxy counts and luminosity functions from the far-ultraviolet to the sub-mm, from redshift five to the present, and compare with an extensive compilation of observations. We find that in order to reproduce the rest-UV and optical luminosity functions at high redshift, we must assume an evolving normalization in the dust-to-metal ratio, implying that galaxies of a given bolometric luminosity (or metal column density) must be less extinguished than their local counterparts. In our best-fit model, we find remarkably good agreement with observations from rest-frame 1500 Angstroms to 250 microns. At longer wavelengths, most dramatically in the sub-mm, our models underpredict the number of bright galaxies by a large factor. The models reproduce the observed total IR luminosity function fairly well. We show the results of varying several ingredients of the models, including various aspects of the dust attenuation recipe, the dust emission templates, and the cosmology. We use our models to predict the integrated Extragalactic Background Light (EBL), and compare with an observationally-motivated EBL model and with other available observational constraints.

The Galactic dust-to-metals ratio and metallicity using gamma-ray bursts

The metallicity and dust-to-metals ratio of the Galaxy are fundamental parameters in understanding the ISM, but there is still uncertainty surrounding these parameters. In this paper, the dust-to-metals ratio in the Galaxy is determined using the photoelectric absorption of the X-ray afterglows of a sample of several hundred gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) to determine the metal column density in combination with Galactic dust maps to determine the line-of-sight dust extinction through the Galaxy in the direction of the GRB. GRB afterglows often have large extragalactic soft X-ray absorptions and therefore the GRB sample's upper-bound will define the Galactic dust-to-metals relation. Using a two-dimensional two-sample KS test, we determine this upper-bound and so derive the dust-to-metals ratio of the Galaxy. We find N_H = 2.2^{+0.3}_{-0.4}e21 cm^-2 A_V assuming solar, Anders & Grevesse (1989), metallicity. This result is consistent with previous findings using bright X-ray sources in the Galaxy. Using the same technique but substituting the HI maps from the Leiden-Argentine-Bonn survey for the dust maps, allows us to place a limit on the metallicity in the Galaxy. We find a metallicity consistent with the Anders & Grevesse (1989) solar values often used in X-ray fitting. Based on this and previous studies, we suggest that the metallicity of a typical ISM sightline through the Galaxy is ~0.25 dex higher than the current best estimate of the solar metallicity. We further show that the dust-to-gas ratio seems to be correlated with the total gas column density, and that this may be due to the metallicity gradient observed toward the Galactic centre. Based on the non-constant nature of the dust-to-gas ratio, we propose that the dust column density, at N_H = 2.2e21 cm^-2 A_V, represents a better proxy for the soft X-ray absorption column density than HI maps.

The extinction curves of star-forming regions fromz = 0.1 to 6.7 using GRB afterglow spectroscopy

GRB afterglows are well suited to extinction studies due to their brightness, simple power-law spectra and the occurrence of GRBs in distant star forming galaxies. In this paper we present results from the SED analysis of a sample of 41 GRB afterglows, from X-ray to NIR wavelengths. This is the largest sample of extinction curves outside the Local Group and, to date, the only extragalactic sample of absolute extinction curves based on spectroscopy. Visual extinction correlation with HI column density as well as total and gas-phase metal column density are examined. Approximately half the sample require a cooling break between the optical and X-ray regimes. The broken power-law SEDs show an average change in the spectral index of delta_beta=0.51 with a standard deviation of 0.02. This is consistent with the expectation from a simple synchrotron model. Of the sample, 63% are well described by the SMC-type extinction curve and have moderate or low extinction, with AV<0.65. Almost a quarter of our sample is consistent with no significant extinction (typically AV<0.1). The 2175AA extinction bump is detected unequivocally in 7% of our sample (3 GRBs), which all have A_V>1.0. We find an anti-correlation between gas-to-dust ratio and metallicity consistent with the Local Group relation. Our metals-to-dust ratios derived from the soft X-ray absorption are always larger (3-30 times) than the Local Group value, which may mean that GRB hosts may be less efficient at turning their metals into dust. However, we find that gas, dust, and metal column densities are all likely to be influenced by photo-ionization and dust destruction effects from the GRB. [abridged]

A Lyαblob andzabs ≈ zemdamped Lyαabsorber in the dark matter halo of the binary quasar Q 0151+048

Q0151+048 is a physical QSO pair at z ~ 1.929 with a separation of 3.3 arcsec on the sky. In the spectrum of Q0151+048A (qA), a DLA is observed at a higher redshift. We have previously detected the host galaxies of both QSOs, as well as a Lya blob. We performed low-resolution spectroscopy with the slit aligned with the extended emission. We also observed the system using the medium-resolution VLT/X-shooter spectrograph and the slit aligned with the two QSOs. We measure systemic redshifts of zem(A)=1.92924{\pm}0.00036 and zem(B)=1.92863{\pm}0.00042 from the H{\beta} and H{\alpha} emission lines, respectively. We estimate the masses of the black holes of the two QSOs to be 10^9.33 M{\odot} and 10^8.38 M{\odot} for qA and qB, respectively. From this we infered the mass of the dark matter halos hosting the two QSOs: 10^13.74 M{\odot} and 10^13.13 M{\odot} for qA and qB, respectively. We observe a velocity gradient along the major axis of the Lya blob consistent with the rotation curve of a large disk galaxy, but it may also be caused by gas inflow or outflow. We detect residual continuum in the DLA trough which we interpret as emission from the host galaxy of qA. The derived H0 column density of the DLA is log NH0 = 20.34 {\pm} 0.02. Metal column densities results in an overall metallicity of 0.01 Z{\odot}. We detect CII* which allows us to make a physical model of the DLA cloud. From the systemic redshifts of the QSOs, we conclude that the Lya blob is associated with qA rather than with the DLA. The DLA must be located in front of both the Lya blob and qA at a distance larger than 30 kpc. The two QSOs accrete at normal eddington ratios. The DM halo of this double quasar will grow to the mass of our local super-cluster at z=0. We point out that those objects therefore form an ideal laboratory to study the physical interactions in a z=2 pre-cursor of our local super-cluster.

Dust and metal column densities in GRB host galaxies

AbstractThe immensely bright and intrinsically simple afterglow spectra of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) have proven to be highly effective probes of the interstellar dust and gas in distant, star-forming galaxies. Despite significant progress, many aspects of the host galaxy attenuating material are still poorly understood. There is considerable discrepancy between the amount of X-ray and optical afterglow absorption, with the former typically an order of magnitude higher than what would be expected from the optical line absorption of neutral element species. Similar inconsistencies exist between the abundance of interstellar dust derived from spectroscopic and photometric data, and the relation between the line-of-sight and integrated host galaxy interstellar medium (ISM) remains unclear. In these proceedings we present our analysis on both spectroscopic and photometric multi-wavelength GRB afterglow data, and summarise some of the more recent results on the attenuation properties of the ISM within GRB host galaxies.

Ionization corrections in a multiphase interstellar medium: lessons from a zabs∼ 2 sub-DLA

We present a high resolution (FWHM=2.7 km/s), high S/N echelle spectrum for the z = 2.26 QSO J2123-0050 and determine elemental abundances for the z = 2.06 sub-DLA in its line of sight. This high redshift sub-DLA has a complex kinematic structure and harbours detections of neutral (SI, CI), singly (e.g. CII, SII) and multiply ionized (e.g. CIV, SiIV) species as well as molecular H and HD. The plethora of detected transitions in various ionization stages is indicative of a complex multi-phase structure present in this high redshift galaxy. We demonstrate that the ionization corrections in this sub-DLA are significant (up to ~0.7 dex). For example, if no ionization correction is applied, a super-solar metallicity is derived ([S/H] = +0.36), whereas a single phase ionization correction reduces this to [S/H] = -0.19. The theoretical impact of a multi-phase medium is investigated through Cloudy modelling and it is found that the abundances of Si, S and Fe are always over-estimated (by up to 0.15 dex in our experiments) if a single-phase is assumed. Therefore, although Cloudy models improve estimates of metal column densities, the simplification of a single phase medium leaves a systematic error in the result, so that even ionization-corrected abundances may still be too high. Without ionization corrections the properties of this sub-DLA appear to require extreme scenarios of nucleosynthetic origins. After ionization corrections are applied the ISM of this galaxy appears to be similar to some of the sightlines through the Milky Way.

H I Column Densities, Metallicities, and Dust Extinction of Metal-Strong Damped Lyα Systems11Observations reported here were obtained at the MMT Observatory, a joint facility of the University of Arizona and the Smithsonian Institution.

ABSTRACTWith the Blue Channel Spectrograph (BCS) on the MMT telescope, we have obtained spectra to the atmospheric cutoff of quasars previously known to show at least one absorption system at z > 1.6 with very strong metal lines. We refer to these absorbers as candidate metal-strong damped Lyα systems (cMSDLAs), the majority of which were culled from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. The BCS/MMT spectra yield precise estimates of the H i column densities (NHI) of the systems through Voigt profile analysis of their Lyα transitions. Nearly all of the cMSDLAs (41/43) satisfy the NHI criterion of DLAs, 1020.3 atoms cm-2. As a population, these systems have systematically higher NHI values than DLAs chosen randomly from quasar sightlines. Combining our NHI measurements with previously measured metal column densities, we estimate metallicities for the MSDLAs. These systems have significantly higher values than randomly selected DLAs; at z ≈ 2, the MSDLAs show a median metallicity [M/H] ≈ -0.67 that is 0.6 dex higher than a corresponding control sample. This establishes MSDLAs as having among the most metal-rich gas in the high z universe. Our measurements extend the observed correlation between Si ii 1526 equivalent width and the gas metallicity to higher values. If interpreted as a mass-metallicity relation, this implies the MSDLAs are the high-mass subset of the DLA population. We demonstrate that dust in the MSDLAs reddens their background quasars, with a median shift in the spectral slope of δα = 0.29. Assuming an SMC extinction law, this implies a median reddening EB-V ≈ 0.025 mag and visual extinction AV ≈ 0.076 mag. The latter quantity yields a dust-to-gas ratio of log(AV/NHI) ≈ -22.0, very similar to estimation for the SMC. Future studies of MSDLAs offer the opportunity to study the extinction, nucleosynthesis, and kinematics of the most chemically evolved, gas-rich galaxies at high z.

Metal concentrations in the upper atmosphere during meteor showers

Abstract. Using the nadir-viewing Global Ozone Measuring Experiment (GOME) UV/VIS spectrometer on the ERS-2 satellite, we investigate short term variations in the vertical magnesium column densities in the atmosphere and any connection to possible enhanced mass deposition during a meteor shower. Time-dependent mass influx rates are derived for all the major meteor showers using published estimates of mass density and temporal profiles of meteor showers. An average daily sporadic background mass flux rate is also calculated and used as a baseline against which calculated shower mass flux rates are compared. These theoretical mass flux rates are then compared with GOME derived metal vertical column densities of Mg and Mg+ from the years 1996–2001. There is no correlation between theoretical mass flux rates and changes in the Mg and Mg+ metal column densities. A possible explanation for the lack of a shower related increase in metal concentrations may be differences in the mass regimes dominating the average background mass flux and shower mass flux.

Dust and metal column densities in gamma-ray burst host galaxies

In this paper we present the results from the analysis of a sample of 28 gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglow spectral energy distributions, spanning the X-ray through to near-infrared wavelengths. This is the largest sample of GRB afterglow spectral energy distributions thus far studied, providing a strong handle on the optical depth distribution of soft X-ray absorption and dust-extinction systems in GRB host galaxies. We detect an absorption system within the GRB host galaxy in 79% of the sample, and an extinction system in 71% of the sample, and find the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) extinction law to provide an acceptable fit to the host galaxy extinction profile for the majority of cases, consistent with previous findings. The range in the soft X-ray absorption to dust-extinction ratio, N_{H,X}/Av, in GRB host galaxies spans almost two orders of magnitude, and the typical ratios are significantly larger than those of the Magellanic Clouds or Milky Way. Although dust destruction could be a cause, at least in part, for the large N_{H,X}/Av ratios, the good fit provided by the SMC extinction law for the majority of our sample suggests that there is an abundance of small dust grains in the GRB environment, which we would expect to have been destroyed if dust destruction were responsible for the large N_{H,X}/Av ratios. Instead, our analysis suggests that the distribution of N_{H,X}/Av in GRB host galaxies may be mostly intrinsic to these galaxies, and this is further substantiated by evidence for a strong negative correlation between N_{H,X}/Av and metallicity for a subsample of GRB hosts with known metallicity. Furthermore, we find the N_{H,X}/Av ratio and metallicity for this subsample of GRBs to be comparable to the relation found in other more metal-rich galaxies.

Coincident, 100 kpc scale damped Lyα absorption towards a binary QSO: how large are galaxies at z ∼ 3?

We report coincident damped Lyα (DLA) and sub-DLA absorption at zabs= 2.66 and zabs= 2.94 towards the z∼ 3, 13.8 arcsec separation binary quasar SDSS 1116+4118 AB. At the redshifts of the absorbers, this angular separation corresponds to a proper transverse separation of ∼110 h−170 kpc. A third absorber, a sub-DLA at zabs= 2.47, is detected towards SDSS 1116+4118 B, but no corresponding high column density absorber is present towards SDSS 1116+4118 A. We use high-resolution galaxy simulations and a clustering analysis to interpret the coincident absorption and its implications for galaxy structure at z∼ 3. We conclude that the common absorption in the two lines of sight is unlikely to arise from a single galaxy, or a galaxy plus satellite system, and is more feasibly explained by a group of two or more galaxies with separations ∼100 kpc. The impact of these findings on single line-of-sight observations is also discussed; we show that abundances of DLAs may be affected by up to a few tenths of a dex by line-of-sight DLA blending. From a Keck Echellette Spectrograph and Imager spectrum of the two quasars, we measure metal column densities for all five absorbers and determine abundances for the three absorbers with log N(H i) > 20. For the two highest N(H i) absorbers, we determine high levels of metal enrichment, corresponding to 1/3 and 1/5 Z⊙. These metallicities are amongst the highest measured for DLAs at any redshift and are consistent with values measured in Lyman-break galaxies at 2 < z < 3. For the DLA at zabs= 2.94 we also infer an approximately solar ratio of α-to-Fe peak elements from [S/Zn]=+0.05, and measure an upper limit for the molecular fraction in this particular line of sight of log f (H 2) < −5.5.

Very Different X-Ray-to-Optical Column Density Ratios in γ-Ray Burst Afterglows: Ionization in GRB Environments

We compare the H I column densities from Lyalpha absorption to the metal column densities from X-ray absorption in gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglows. Eight bursts of 17 entering the sample have significant extragalactic X-ray absorptions. Of these we find a range in metallicities from subsolar to a few hundred times the solar value. There is a complete lack of correlation between the X-ray and optical column densities. This, and the large range and extreme values of these ``metallicities,'' suggests that the column densities derived by one or both methods are not a reliable indication of the true total column densities toward GRBs. Ionization of the GRB's gas cloud to large distances along the line of sight seems the most likely cause. From the lower limit on the total column density and the UV luminosity of the GRBs, we derive a maximum distance to the majority of the gas surrounding GRBs of ~3 pc, suggesting that the gas probed by optical afterglow spectra is not the cloud in which the burst occurs. This is an encouraging result for the use of GRB optical afterglows as probes of the interstellar medium (ISM) in their host galaxies, as the ISM observed is less likely to be strongly affected by the GRB or its progenitor.

Three intervening galaxy absorbers towards GRB 060418: faint and dusty?

Abstract We present an analysis of three strong, intervening Mg II absorption systems (zabs = 0.603, 0.656, 1.107) towards the optical afterglow of gamma-ray burst (GRB) 060418. From high-resolution Ultraviolet and Visual Echelle Spectrograph (UVES) spectra we measure metal column densities and find that the highest redshift absorber exhibits a large amount of dust depletion compared with damped Lyman absorbers (DLAs) seen in quasi-stellar object (QSO) spectra. The intervening zabs = 1.107 absorber is also unusual in exhibiting a clear 2175-Å bump, the first time this feature has been definitively detected in a GRB spectrum. The GRB afterglow spectrum is best fitted with a two-component extinction curve: a Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) extinction law at z = 1.49 (the redshift of the host) with E(B−V) = 0.07 ± 0.01 and a Galactic extinction curve at z∼ 1.1 with E(B−V) = 0.08 ± 0.01. We also present a moderately deep New Technology Telescope (NTT) R-band image of the GRB 060418 field and spectroscopy of four galaxies within 1 arcmin. None of these objects has a redshift that matches any of the intervening absorbers, and we conclude that the galaxies responsible for the two intervening Mg ii absorbers at z∼ 0.6 have luminosities .

Extinction and metal column density of HI regions up to redshiftz$\mathsf{\simeq 2}$

We used the photometric database of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) to estimate the reddening of 13 SDSS quasars selected on the basis of the presence of zinc absorption lines in an intervening Damped Ly α (DLA) system. In 5 of these quasars the reddening is detected at >2σ confidence level in two independent color indices of the SDSS ugriz photometric system. A detailed analysis of the data supports an origin of the reddening in the intervening absorbers. We used these rare measurements of extinction in DLA systems to probe the relation between extinction and metal column density in the interval of absorption redshift 0.7 < z < 2.0. We find that the mean extinction in the V band per atom of iron in the dust is remarkably similar to that found in interstellar clouds of the Milky Way. This result lends support to previous estimates of the dust obscuration effect in DLA systems based on a Milky Way extinction/metal column density relation. We propose a simple mechanism, based on dust grain destruction/accretion properties, which may explain the approximate constancy of the extinction per atom of iron in the dust.

Clues to the nucleosynthetic pattern and dust depletion in damped lyman α systems

In this paper, we present some statistical results of the various cross correlations among observed element abundances (both absolute values and ratios), neutral hydrogen column density and metal column density. Specifically, we point out the anti-correlations between the observed abundance ratios and metal column density in DLAs, namely, [X/Zn] and/or [X/Si] (where X stands for the refractories Fe, Cr and Ni) with [Zn/H]+log(N HI ) and [Si/H]+log(N HI ). We suggest that those identified anti-correlations could provide important clues to the dust depletion and nucleosynthetic patterns in DLAs.

Chemical evolution and depletion pattern in Damped Lyman α systems

Dust depletion plays a key role in understanding the nature of Damped Lyman or systems (DLAs). In this paper we point out a previously unnoticed anticorrelation between the observed abundance ratio [X/Zn] (where Zn is assumed to be undepleted and X stands for the refractories Fe, Cr and Ni) and metal column density ([Zn/H] + log(N-HI)) in DLAs. We suggest that this trend is an unambiguous sign of dust depletion, since metal column density is a measure of the amount of dust along the line of sight. Assuming that DLAs are (proto-) galactic disks and using detailed chemical evolution models with metallicity dependent yields we study chemical evolution and dust depletion patterns for ct and iron-peak elements in DLAs. When observational constraints on the metal column density of DLAs are taken into account las suggested in Boisse et al. 1998) we find that our models reproduce fairly well the observed mild redshift evolution of the abundances of 8 elements (Al, Si, S, Cr, Mn, Fe, Zn and Ni) as well as the observed scatter at a given redshift. By considering the aforementioned dependence of abundance ratios on metal column density, we further explore the general dust depletion pattern in DLAs, comparing to our model results and to a solar reference pattern. We find that for low metal column densities (no depletion), our models compare fairly well to the data, while a solar pattern has difficulties with Mn. At high metal column densities (amount of depletion similar to0.5 dex), the solar pattern describes the data quite well, while our models have difficulties with S. We suggest that further measurements of those key elements, i.e. Zn, S and Mn, will help us to gain more insight into the nature of DLAs. The presently uncertain nucleosynthesis of Zn in massive stars Ion which a large part of these conclusions is based) should be carefully scrutinised.