The Origin of [OII] in Post-Starburst and Red-Sequence Galaxies in
  High-Redshift Clusters
  We present the first results from a near-IR spectroscopic campaign of the
Cl1604 supercluster at z~0.9 and the cluster RX J1821.6+6827 at z~0.82 to
investigate the nature of [OII] 3727A emission in cluster galaxies at high
redshift. Of the 401 members in the two systems, 131 galaxies have detectable
[OII] emission with no other signs of current star-formation, as well as strong
absorption features indicative of a well-established older stellar population.
The combination of these features suggests that the primary source of [OII]
emission in these galaxies is not the result of star-formation, but rather due
to the presence of a LINER or Seyfert component. Using the NIRSPEC spectrograph
on the Keck II 10-m telescope, 19 such galaxies were targeted, as well as six
additional [OII]-emitting cluster members that exhibited other signs of ongoing
star-formation. Nearly half (~47%) of the 19 [OII]-emitting, absorption-line
dominated galaxies exhibit [OII] to Ha equivalent width ratios higher than
unity, the typical value for star-forming galaxies. A majority (~68%) of these
19 galaxies are classified as LINER/Seyfert based on the emission-line ratio of
[NII] and Ha, increasing to ~85% for red [OII]-emitting, absorption-line
dominated galaxies. The LINER/Seyfert galaxies exhibit L([OII])/L(Ha) ratios
significantly higher than that observed in populations of star-forming
galaxies, suggesting that [OII] is a poor indicator of star-formation in a
large fraction of high-redshift cluster members. We estimate that at least ~20%
of galaxies in high-redshift clusters contain a LINER/Seyfert component that
can be revealed with line ratios. We also investigate the effect this
population has on the star formation rate of cluster galaxies and the
post-starburst fraction, concluding that LINER/Seyferts must be accounted for
if these quantities are to be meaningful.
