CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

The chemical enrichment of the Universe refers to the cosmic build-up of chemical elements produced by stars (metals) that disperse them to the interstellar medium during their life and dead. The enriched material can reach intergalactic distances helped by galactic-scale winds and, eventually, can flow back to a galaxy. These metals are crucial ingredients for star formation because they provide a cooling mechanism for the gas. Therefore, understanding the flow of baryons to and from galaxies is fundamental for galaxy formation and evolution.Our work aims at testing the origin of metal absorption systems in the spectra of background quasars, by studying the environment of these absorption systems and the galaxies that produce them. In particular, we search for galaxies near triply-ionized carbon (C iv) systems at redshift > 3. In this contribution, we present recent results that suggest that the mechanisms of dispersal of metals could have been more efficient at z ∼ 6 than at z < 3. We discuss the limitations of the result and present the current status of our search for the origin of C iv absorption systems.