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3. WHAT CONTROLS THE METALLICITY OF A GALAXY?

Here we will discuss some mechanisms that may be important for understanding why some galaxies are more metal-poor than others. It is unavoidable that this will include a discussion on nucleosynthesis and chemical evolution models, however this is not the main scope of this paper and excellent reviews can be found elsewhere, e.g. Pagel (1997), Matteucci (1996), Maeder (1992), Prantzos (1998).