We introduce our survey of galaxy groups at 0.85 < z < 1, as an extension of the Group Environment and Evolution Collaboration. Here we present the first results, based on Gemini GMOS-S nod-and-shuffle spectroscopy of seven galaxy groups selected from spectroscopically confirmed, extended XMM detections in COSMOS. We use photometric redshifts to

X-ray properties of galaxy groups can unlock some of the most challenging research topics in modern extragalactic astronomy: the growth of structure and its influence on galaxy formation. Only with the advent of the Chandra and XMM facilities have X-ray observations reached the depths required to address these questions in a satisfactory manner. Here we present an X-ray imaging study of two patches from the CNOC2 spectroscopic galaxy survey using combined Chandra and XMM data. A state of the art extended source finding algorithm has been applied, and the resultant source catalog, including redshifts from a spectroscopic follow-up program, is presented. The total number of spectroscopically identified groups is 25 spanning a redshift range 0.04-0.79. Approximately 50% of CNOC2 spectroscopically selected groups in the deeper X-ray (RA14h) field are likely X-ray detections, compared to 20% in the shallower (RA21h) field. Statistical modeling shows that this is consistent with expectations, assuming an expected evolution of the L X -M relation. A significant detection of a stacked shear signal for both spectroscopic and X-ray groups indicates that both samples contain real groups of about the expected mass. We conclude that the current area and depth of X-ray and spectroscopic facilities provide a unique window of opportunity at z ∼ 0.4 to test the X-ray appearance of galaxy groups selected in various ways. There is at present no evidence that the correlation between X-ray luminosity and velocity dispersion evolves significantly with redshift, which implies that catalogs based on either method can be fairly compared and modeled.

The presence of substructure in galaxy groups and clusters is believed to be a sign of recent galaxy accretion and can be used to probe not only the assembly history of these structures, but also the evolution of their member galaxies. Using the Dressler–Shectman (DS) test, we study substructure in a sample of intermediate‐redshift (z∼ 0.4) galaxy groups from the Group Environment and Evolution Collaboration (GEEC) group catalogue. We find that four of the 15 rich GEEC groups, with an average velocity dispersion of ∼525 km s−1, are identified as having significant substructure. The identified regions of localized substructure lie on the group outskirts and in some cases appear to be infalling. In a comparison of galaxy properties for the members of groups with and without substructure, we find that the groups with substructure have a significantly higher fraction of blue and star‐forming galaxies and a parent colour distribution that resembles that of the field population rather than the overall group population. In addition, we observe correlations between the detection of substructure and other dynamical measures, such as velocity distributions and velocity dispersion profiles. Based on this analysis, we conclude that some galaxy groups contain significant substructure and that these groups have properties and galaxy populations that differ from groups with no detected substructure. These results indicate that the substructure galaxies, which lie preferentially on the group outskirts and could be infalling, do not exhibit signs of environmental effects, since little or no star formation quenching is observed in these systems.

We present deep GMOS-S spectroscopy for 11 galaxy groups at 0.8 < z < 1.0, for galaxies with r AB < 24.75. Our sample is highly complete (> 66%) for eight of the eleven groups. Using an optical-NIR colour-colour diagram, the galaxies in the sample were separated with a dust insensitive method into three categories: passive (red), star-forming (blue), and intermediate (green). The strongest environmental dependence is observed in the fraction of passive galaxies, which make up only ∼ 20 per cent of the field in the mass range 10 10.3 < M star /M ⊙ < 10 11.0 , but are the dominant component of groups. If we assume that the properties of the field are similar to those of the 'pre-accreted' population, the environment quenching efficiency (ǫ ρ ) is defined as the fraction of field galaxies required to be quenched in order to match the observed red fraction inside groups. The efficiency obtained is ∼ 0.4, similar to its value in intermediate-density environments locally. While green (intermediate) galaxies represent ∼ 20 per cent of the star-forming population in both the group and field, at all stellar masses, the average sSFR of the group population is lower by a factor of ∼ 3. The green population does not show strong Hδ absorption that is characteristic of starburst galaxies. Finally, the high fraction of passive galaxies in groups, when combined with satellite accretion models, require that most accreted galaxies have been affected by their environment. Thus, any delay between accretion and the onset of truncation of star formation (τ ) must be < ∼ 2 Gyr, shorter than the 3 − 7 Gyr required to fit data at z = 0. The relatively small fraction of intermediate galaxies requires that the actual quenching process occurs quickly, with an exponential decay timescale of τ q < ∼ 1 Gyr.

We present the global group properties of two samples of galaxy groups containing 39 high quality X-ray selected systems and 38 optically (spectroscopically) selected systems in coincident spatial regions at 0.12