Probing Evolutionary Mechanisms in Galaxy Clusters: Neutral Atomic
  Hydrogen in Abell 1367
  We present VLA H I imaging data for a field in the NW of the galaxy cluster
Abell 1367 (z = 0.02) in an attempt to probe the effect environment has on the
interstellar medium of late-type spiral galaxies. Several galaxies show
pronounced tails and asymmetries, and 7 out of 10 show significant, several kpc
offsets between the HI centroid and the optical. We compare our results against
a sample of optically bright, late-type galaxies (spirals) across the central
1.5 Mpc of the cluster taken from the Arecibo Galaxy Environment Survey (AGES).
We calculate the H I deficiency and find that the expected global trend for the
H I deficiency of these spirals to increase with projected proximity to the
cluster core, seen in clusters like Coma and Virgo, is not observed. We
classified the spirals into four evolutionary states, with the galaxies in each
state sharing a similar degree of H I deficiency and optical colour. The common
characteristics of the spirals in each evolutionary state suggests they have
been subject to similar environmental processes. Many of the spirals in the
most common evolutionary state (moderate H I deficiency and blue colour) have
an H I intensity maximum which is displaced relative to its optical
counterpart. The orientation of these offsets and magnitude of their H I
deficiencies together with data from other wavelengths provide observational
evidence in support of varying degrees of ram pressure stripping and tidal
interaction. In general, our results indicate that the H I disks of bright
late-type galaxies in the central part of the cluster are subject to both gas
loss and morphological disturbance as a result of their interaction with the
cluster environment. This provides further observational evidence of a more
complex environment in Abell 1367 as compared to Virgo and Coma.
