Feedback-driven winds from star formation or active galactic nuclei might be a relevant channel for the abrupt quenching of star formation in massive galaxies. However, both observations and simulations support the idea that these processes are non-conflictingly co-evolving and self-regulating. Furthermore, evidence of disruptive events that are capable of fast quenching is rare, and constraints on their statistical prevalence are lacking. Here we present a massive starburst galaxy at redshift z = 1.4, which is ejecting 46 ± 13% of its molecular gas mass at a startling rate of ≳10,000 M_⊙ yr⁻¹. A broad component that is red-shifted from the galaxy emission is detected in four (low and high J) CO and [C i] transitions and in the ionized phase, which ensures a robust estimate of the expelled gas mass. The implied statistics suggest that similar events are potentially a major star-formation quenching channel. However, our observations provide compelling evidence that this is not a feedback-driven wind, but rather material from a merger that has been probably tidally ejected. This finding challenges some literature studies in which the role of feedback-driven winds might be overstated.

来自恒星形成或活动星系核的反馈驱动风可能是大质量星系中恒星形成突然猝灭的相关通道。然而，观察和模拟都支持这样的观点，即这些过程是非冲突的共同进化和自我调节的。此外，能够快速熄灭的破坏性事件的证据很少，并且缺乏对其统计流行度的限制。在这里，我们展示了一个红移z = 1.4 的大质量星暴星系，它以惊人的≳ 10,000  M⊙  yr ^-1的_速度 喷出 46 ± 13% 的分子气体质量。在四个（低 J 和高J) CO 和 [C  i ] 跃迁和电离相，这确保了对排出气体质量的可靠估计。隐含的统计数据表明，类似的事件可能是主要的恒星形成淬火通道。然而，我们的观察提供了令人信服的证据，表明这不是反馈驱动的风，而是来自可能被潮汐喷射的合并的物质。这一发现挑战了一些文献研究，其中反馈驱动的风的作用可能被夸大了。