The interaction between iron released from corroded steel canisters and bentonite is a key process influencing the long-term performance of nuclear waste repositories. In particular, the migration of Fe²⁺ into montmorillonite (Mnt) interlayers may alter its hydration, swelling, and ion-transport properties. In the present study, molecular dynamics simulations were performed to investigate the hydration behavior, structural response, and transport properties of Fe-exchanged montmorillonite (Fe-Mnt) under varying hydration states. The simulations focus on short- to intermediate-time-scale Fe2+ and Fe3+ interlayer exchange and hydration effects, and do not consider long-term structural substitution, Fe-bearing clay phase stabilization, or secondary iron mineral precipitation. Systems containing Na+-, Fe2+-, and Fe3+-Mnt were examined using both periodic and edge-exposed configurations to evaluate interlayer structure, ion exchange, and free energy of Fe intercalation. The results show that Fe ions influence the interlayer spacing primarily at low water contents (<1 bilayer), where Fe-Mnt exhibits a d-spacing 1–2 Å larger than Na-Mnt due to stronger hydration. The calculated hydration energies follow the order Fe2+<Fe3+<Na+. Both water and ion diffusion coefficients decrease upon Fe ion intercalation, with Fe2+ ions diffusing an order of magnitude more slowly than those of Na+. Free energy profiles further confirm that Fe2+ and Fe3+ ions are thermodynamically favored in the interlayer, with Fe3+ being the most stable. These findings provide molecular-scale insights into the mechanisms of Fe–Na exchange and their implications for bentonite alteration in repository environments.

This article explores how young people in Norilsk – Russia’s largest Arctic city and a global exemplar of industrial monotown development – negotiate their futures amid extreme environmental challenges, social isolation, and economic uncertainty. Drawing on 31 in-depth interviews with vocational students of industrial specialisations, the paper examines the ways in which youth navigate a unique “here” (Norilsk) versus “on the mainland” (the rest of Russia) divide that shapes both lived experience and imagined mobility. The analysis reveals that youth typically approach life in Norilsk as a temporary, but agentic strategy: they seek financial security and work experience locally before considering uncertain migration elsewhere. This calculated “staying,” termed “permanent temporality,” is influenced by limited educational and career opportunities, strong vocational pipelines, and family narratives that valorise the accumulation of a “safety cushion” prior to moving. While Norilsk offers predictability and stability, it is rarely seen as a place for long-term residence or generational settlement. The findings challenge assumptions of Arctic youth passivity or inevitable depopulation, highlighting instead the adaptive agency young people display in a context of structural constraint. The study situates these strategies between broader transformations in Russian education, shifting value attached to vocational and university pathways, and the specific vulnerabilities of Arctic urban environments. The article concludes by discussing the implications for regional policy, urban sustainability, and broader understandings of youth transition and mobility under conditions of global peripherality and rapid socioeconomic change.

Climate change is a significant challenge for biodiversity conservation in Australia and globally; conservation practitioners, researchers and policymakers need to find new ways to protect species, communities and habitats from the impacts of it. These new approaches – or adaptation interventions – require testing, approvals, permissions, funding and, in many cases, social licence. As such, there is a strong appetite for peer-to-peer sharing of research, new ideas and experiences in adapting biodiversity conservation to climate change, as well as an increasing need to communicate adaptation approaches to decision-makers and communities. We surveyed 80 people working in biodiversity conservation in Australia to elicit the ways in which stories about adaptation are used to support the planning and implementation of adaptation interventions and what information is most useful in these learning examples. We found that individuals working in biodiversity conservation in Australia have diverse roles and areas of focus. Accordingly, there are diverse needs and uses for stories, and there is a large and unmet appetite for accessible, relevant and credible information. Our findings could help guide the development and sharing of learning examples in the rapidly growing field of climate change adaptation for biodiversity conservation that will speed progress towards implementation.

Concordia Station is a long-term lidar observatory in Antarctica. Its main purpose is to detect and classify polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs). In September 2023, water ice PSCs were observed for a period of 6 days. This has never occurred during the month of September in the 10 years of observations of PSCs at Concordia Station. In addition, the space-borne CALIOP (Cloud Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization) lidar observed a rare occurrence of ice PSCs over Concordia Station during the first half of June. It is well known that the January 2022 eruption of the Hunga submarine volcano (20°32’S, 175°23’W) injected vast amounts of water vapour into the stratosphere. The Hunga hydration flooded southern high latitudes at the end of the 2022 austral winter, and the moist air was then entrained into the developing vortex in the austral autumn (April–May) of 2023. The increased water vapour from Hunga was reported to promote PSC formation by cooling the stratosphere and raising PSC formation temperatures. Here, we explore the impact of the Hunga eruption on the PSCs observed at Concordia Station.