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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Chris HarrisonORCiD
This is the final published version of an article that has been published in its final definitive form by Oxford University Press, 2025.
For re-use rights please refer to the publisher's terms and conditions.
© Crown copyright 2025.Gas-phase oxygen abundance (metallicity) properties can be constrained through emission line analyses, and are of great importance to investigate galaxy evolution histories. We present an analysis of the integrated and spatially resolved rest-frame optical emission line properties of the ionized gas in 43 star-forming galaxies at z ∼ 1.5 in the K-band Multi Object Spectrograph Ultra-deep Rotational Velocity Survey. Using the [Nii]λ6584/H α (N2), ([O II]λλ3727, 9+[O III]λλ4959, 5007)/H β (R23), and for the first time [Nii]λ6584/[O II]λλ3727, 9 (N2O2) indicators at this redshift, we measure the gas-phase metallicities and their radial gradients. On ∼ 4-kpc scales metallicity gradients measured from N2O2 and those measured from N2 are in good agreement when considering the spatial distributions of dust in each galaxy, as parametrized by dust attenuation radial gradients. We report a nearly flat metallicity gradient distribution typically at z ∼ 1.5, with the 50th, 16th, and 84th percentiles at 0.01, -0.03, and 0.05dexkpc-1, respectively. The findings agree well with previous observational studies and simulations at this epoch. We ascribe the observed negative metallicity gradients to a natural result from self-regulating systems, and the positive ones to potential galactic fountains and higher merger rates.
Author(s): Li Z, Dudzeviciute U, Puglisi A, Gillman S, Swinbank AM, Cortese L, Smail I, Glazebrook K, McLeod AF, Taylor DJ, Bacon R, Harrison C, Ibar E, Molina J, Obreschkow D, Theuns T
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Year: 2025
Volume: 544
Issue: 4
Pages: 4025-4042
Print publication date: 01/12/2025
Online publication date: 08/11/2025
Acceptance date: 28/10/2025
Date deposited: 22/12/2025
ISSN (print): 0035-8711
ISSN (electronic): 1365-2966
Publisher: Oxford University Press
URL: https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/staf1919
DOI: 10.1093/mnras/staf1919
Data Access Statement: The data and the source code underlying this article are available at https://github.com/zidianjun/kurvs.
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