The Hydrodynamics and Chemical Evolution of Starburst-driven Outflows

The hydrodynamics and intrinsic properties of galactic-scale gaseous outflows generated by violent starbursts are thoroughly discussed, taking into account the hot gas chemical evolution and radiative cooling. It is shown that the metallicity of superbubbles vary with time and can easily exceed the solar value. Galactic superwinds driven by compact and powerful starbursts undergo catastrophic cooling and establish a temperature distribution radically different to that predicted by adiabatic solution. The observational properties of supergalactic winds in X-rays and visible line regimes derived from our calculations are compared with the standard adiabatic model predictions.