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Local galaxies are broadly divided into two main classes, star-forming(gas-rich) and quiescent (passive and gas-poor). The primary mechanismresponsible for quenching star formation in galaxies and transforming them intoquiescent and passive systems is still unclear. Sudden removal of gas throughoutflows or stripping is one of the mechanisms often proposed. An alternativemechanism is so-called "strangulation", in which the supply of cold gas to thegalaxy is halted. Here we report that the difference between quiescent and starforming galaxies in terms of stellar metallicity (i.e. the fraction of metalsheavier than helium in stellar atmospheres) can be used to discriminateefficiently between the two mechanisms. The analysis of the stellar metallicityin local galaxies, from 26,000 spectra, clearly reveals that strangulation isthe primary mechanism responsible for quenching star formation, with a typicaltimescale of 4 billion years, at least for local galaxies with a stellar massless than 10^11 solar masses. This result is further supported independently bythe stellar age difference between quiescent and star-forming galaxies, whichindicates that quiescent galaxies of less than 10^11 solar masses are onaverage observed four billion years after quenching due to strangulation.

Strangulation as the primary mechanism for shutting down star formation in galaxies