Using radial metallicity gradients in dwarf galaxies to study environmental processing

The observed morphology-density relation in the Local Group suggests that some amount of environmental processing has occurred, however the nature and efficiency of tidal and ram pressure stripping is not well constrained. A possible avenue to test these processes is to study the radial distribution of metallicity and angular momentum in dwarf galaxies of different environments. Using spectroscopic abundances in the isolated WLM dwarf irregular galaxy and a sample of other dwarfs from the literature, we identify a correlation such that more rotationally supported dwarf galaxies show typically flatter radial metallicity profiles. In the context of tidally induced transformations of rotating dwarf irregulars into dispersion supported dwarf spheroidals, tidal stripping should preserve an initially flat metallicity profile - therefore this correlation may provide additional evidence that ram pressure is required for environmental transformations in the Local Group.