  We present the first results of an ongoing project to investigate the
present-day chemical abundances of the extreme outer parts of galactic disks,
as probed by the emission line spectra of a new sample of HII regions. The
galaxies studied here, NGC628, NGC1058 and NGC6946, are all late-type spiral
galaxies, characterized by larger than average HI-to-optical sizes. Our deep
Halpha images have revealed the existence of recent massive star formation,
traced by HII regions, out to, and beyond, two optical radii in these galaxies
(defined by the B-band 25th magnitude isophote). Optical spectra of these
newly-discovered HII regions are used to investigate their densities,
ionization parameters, extinctions and in particular their oxygen and nitrogen
abundances. Our measurements reveal gas-phase abundances of O/H~10-15% of the
solar value, and N/O~20-25% of the solar value, at radii of 1.5-2 R25. Clear
evidence also exists for diminished dust extinction (Av~0-0.2) at large radii.
The combination of our measurements of outer disk HII region abundances with
those for inner disk HII regions published in the literature is a powerful
probe of the shape of abundance gradients over unprecedented radial baselines.
Within the limits of the current dataset, the radial abundance variations are
consistent with single log-linear relationships, although the derived slopes
can often differ considerably from those found if only inner disk HII regions
are used to define the fit. Interestingly, both the mean level of enrichment
and the ratio of N/O measured in extreme outer galactic disks are similar to
those values measured in some high redshift damped Lyman-alpha absorbers,
suggesting that outer disks at the present epoch are relatively unevolved.
(abridged)
