Mass-metallicity relation of zCOSMOS galaxies at z ≈ 0.7, its dependence on star formation rate, and the existence of massive low-metallicity galaxies

Aims. The knowledge of the number and physical nature of low-metallicity massive galaxies is crucial for determining and interpreting the mass-metallicity relation (MZR). Methods. Using VLT-ISAAC near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy of 39 zCOSMOS 0.5 < z < 0.9 galaxies, we have measured H alpha and [N II] lambda 6584 emission line fluxes for galaxies with [OII] lambda 3727, H beta, and [O III] lambda 5007 available from VIMOS optical spectroscopy. The NIR spectroscopy enables us to break the degeneracy of the R-23 method to unambiguously derive O/H gas metallicities and star formation rates (SFRs) from extinction-corrected H alpha fluxes. Results. We used the position in the D-4000 vs. [OIII] lambda 5007/H beta diagram of galaxies with reliable O/Hs from NIR spectroscopy as a benchmark. This enabled us to break the lower or upper branch R23 degeneracy of additional 900 zCOSMOS galaxies at 0.5 < z < 0.9, which do not have measurements of H alpha and [NII] lambda 6584. Additionally, the H alpha-based SFR measurements were used to find the best SFR calibration based on [O II] lambda 3727 for the 0.5 < z < 0.9 zCOSMOS galaxies without H alpha measurements. With a larger zCOSMOS sample of star-forming galaxies at z approximate to 0.7 with reliable O/H and SFR measurements, we studied the MZR at z approximate to 0.7 and its dependence on (specific) SFR. We find a fraction of 19% of lower mass 9.5 < log (M/M-circle dot) < 10.3 zCOSMOS galaxies that shows a larger evolution of the MZR relation than is found in higher mass galaxies; they are more metal poor at a given mass by a factor of 2-3 than SDSS. This indicates that the low-mass MZR slope steepens at z approximate to 0.7 compared to local galaxies. Many of these galaxies with lower metallicity would be missed by studies that assume upper branch R-23 solution for all galaxies. The existence of these metal-poor galaxies at z approximate to 0.7 can be interpreted as the chemical version of galaxy downsizing. Moreover, the sample of zCOSMOS galaxies shows direct evidence that the SFR influences the MZR at these redshifts. The measured metallicities for the zCOSMOS sample broadly agree with the values expected for a non-evolving fundamental metallicity relation. This comparison also reveals that galaxies with lower metallicities and typically higher (specific) SFRs, such as found in our zCOSMOS sample at z approximate to 0.7, agree with the predictions of a non-evolving Z(M, SFR).