IS HIGH PRIMORDIAL DEUTERIUM CONSISTENT WITH GALACTIC EVOLUTION

Galactic destruction of primordial deuterium is inevitably linked thro ugh star formation to the chemical evolution of the Galaxy. The relati vely high present gas content and low metallicity suggest only modest D destruction. In concert with deuterium abundances derived from solar system and/or interstellar observations, this suggests a primordial d euterium abundance in possible conflict with data from some high-redsh ift, low-metallicity QSO absorbers. We have explored a variety of chem ical evolution models including infall of processed material and early , supernovae-driven winds with the aim of identifying models with larg e D destruction that are consistent with the observations of stellar-p roduced heavy elements. When such models are confronted with data, we reconfirm that only modest destruction of deuterium (less than a facto r of 3) is permitted. When combined with solar system and interstellar data, these results favor the low deuterium abundances derived for th e QSO absorbers by Tytler et al.