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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 July 2013
Studies of dynamically close pairs of galaxies can serve as a powerful probe of the galaxy merger rate and its evolution. Here we present a large sample of dynamically close pairs of galaxies selected in the K-band from the UKIDSS LAS. These data span ~ 175 deg2 on the sky in the 2dFGRS equatorial region (10h < RA < 14h). Combining the 2dFGRS redshifts with those from the SDSS, our K-band selected catalog is > 90% spectroscopically complete at KAB < 16.4. In this study, we focus on quantifying the relative contributions of wet, dry, and mixed mergers to the stellar mass buildup of galaxies over the past 1-2 Gyr.