Metallicity gradients in local field star-forming galaxies: insights on inflows, outflows, and the coevolution of gas, stars and metals

Abstract

We present metallicity gradients in 49 local field star-forming galaxies. We derive gas-phase oxygen abundances using two widely adopted metallicity calibrations based on the [O iii]/Hβ, [N ii]/Hα, and [N ii]/[O ii] line ratios. The two derived metallicity gradients are usually in good agreement within |$\pm 0.14\ {\rm dex} R_{25}^{-1}$| (R25 is the B-band iso-photoal radius), but the metallicity gradients can differ significantly when the ionization parameters change systematically with radius. We investigate the metallicity gradients as a function of stellar mass (⁠|$8 {<} \log (M_\ast /M_\odot) {<} 11$|⁠) and absolute B-band luminosity (−16 > MB > −22). When the metallicity gradients are expressed in dex kpc−1, we show that galaxies with lower mass and luminosity, on average, have steeper metallicity gradients. When the metallicity gradients are expressed in |${\rm dex} R_{25}^{-1}$|⁠, we find no correlation between the metallicity gradients, and stellar mass and luminosity. We provide a local benchmark metallicity gradient of field star-forming galaxies useful for comparison with studies at high redshifts. We investigate the origin of the local benchmark gradient using simple chemical evolution models and observed gas and stellar surface density profiles in nearby field spiral galaxies. Our models suggest that the local benchmark gradient is a direct result of the coevolution of gas and stellar disc under virtually closed-box chemical evolution when the stellar-to-gas mass ratio becomes high (≫0.3). These models imply low current mass accretion rates ( ≲ 0.3 × SFR), and low-mass outflow rates ( ≲ 3 × SFR) in local field star-forming galaxies.