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We present for the first time metallicity maps generated using data from theWide Field Spectrograph (WiFeS) on the ANU 2.3m of 9 Luminous Infrared Galaxies(LIRGs) and discuss the abundance gradients and distribution of metals in thesesystems. We have carried out optical integral field spectroscopy (IFS) ofseveral several LIRGs in various merger phases to investigate the mergerprocess. In a major merger of two spiral galaxies with preexisting diskabundance gradients, the changing distribution of metals can be used as atracer of gas flows in the merging system as low metallicity gas is transportedfrom the outskirts of each galaxy to their nuclei. We employ this fact to probemerger properties by using the emission lines in our IFS data to calculate thegas-phase metallicity in each system. We create abundance maps and subsequentlyderive a metallicity gradient from each map. We compare our measured gradientsto merger stage as well as several possible tracers of merger progress andobserved nuclear abundances. We discuss our work in the context of previousabundance gradient observations and compare our results to new galaxy mergermodels which trace metallicity gradient. Our results agree with the observedflattening of metallicity gradients as a merger progresses. We compare ourresults with new theoretical predictions that include chemical enrichment. Ourdata show remarkable agreement with these simulations.

An Integral Field Study of Abundance Gradients in Nearby LIRGs