As part of the Model Intercomparison Project on the climatic response to Volcanic forcing (VolMIP), several climate modeling centers performed a coordinated prestudy experiment with interactive stratospheric aerosol models simulating the volcanic aerosol cloud from an eruption resembling the 1815 Mt. Tambora eruption (VolMIP-Tambora ISA ensemble). The pre-study provided the ancillary ability to assess intermodel diversity in the radiative forcing for a large stratospheric-injecting equatorial eruption when the volcanic aerosol cloud is simulated interactively. An initial analysis of the VolMIP-Tambora ISA ensemble showed large disparities between models in the stratospheric global mean aerosol optical depth (AOD). In this study, we now show that stratospheric global mean AOD differences among the participating models are primarily due to differences in aerosol size, which we track here by effective radius. We identify specific physical and chemical processes that are missing in some models and/or parameterized differently between models, which are together causing the differences in effective radius. In particular, our analysis indicates that interactively tracking hydroxyl radical (OH) chemistry following a large volcanic injection of sulfur dioxide (SO2) is an important fac tor in allowing for the timescale for sulfate formation to be properly simulated. In addition, depending on the timescale of sulfate formation, there can be a large difference in effective radius and subsequently AOD that results from whether the SO2 is injected in a single model grid cell near the location of the volcanic eruption, or whether it is injected as a longitudinally averaged band around the Earth.

γ-M₂₃C₆ carbide often forms at grain boundaries in creep-resistant steels and plays a crucial role in creep resistance by blocking microstructural changes at elevated temperatures. Given that the dislocations and stacking faults (SFs) in carbides may affect their stability, the observation of SF formation in γ-M₂₃C₆ using atomic-scale microscopy has implications for Cr-rich creep-resistant steels. Our analysis of SF energies (SFEs) derived from density functional theory calculations reveals that the SFEs are high, which suggests that the SF is not induced by external shear stress deformation but by lattice misfit between conjoined subgrains nucleated from the same austenite grain.

A new set of stratospheric aerosol geoengineering (SAG) model experiments has been performed with Community Earth System Model version 2 (CESM2) with the Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model (WACCM6) that are based on the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 6 (CMIP6) overshoot scenario (SSP5-34-OS) as a baseline scenario to limit global warming to 1.5 or 2.0&thinsp;<span classCombining double low line"inline-formula">ĝ</span>C above 1850-1900 conditions. The overshoot scenario allows us to applying a peak-shaving scenario that reduces the needed duration and amount of SAG application compared to a high forcing scenario. In addition, a feedback algorithm identifies the needed amount of sulfur dioxide injections in the stratosphere at four pre-defined latitudes, 30<span classCombining double low line"inline-formula">ĝ</span>&thinsp;N, 15<span classCombining double low line"inline-formula">ĝ</span>&thinsp;N, 15<span classCombining double low line"inline-formula">ĝ</span>&thinsp;S, and 30<span classCombining double low line"inline-formula">ĝ</span>&thinsp;S, to reach three surface temperature targets: global mean temperature, and interhemispheric and pole-To-Equator temperature gradients. These targets further help to reduce side effects, including overcooling in the tropics, warming of high latitudes, and large shifts in precipitation patterns. These experiments are therefore relevant for investigating the impacts on society and ecosystems. Comparisons to SAG simulations based on a high emission pathway baseline scenario (SSP5-85) are also performed to investigate the dependency of impacts using different injection amounts to offset surface warming by SAG. We find that changes from present-day conditions around 2020 in some variables depend strongly on the defined temperature target (1.5&thinsp;<span classCombining double low line"inline-formula">ĝ</span>C vs. 2.0&thinsp;<span classCombining double low line"inline-formula">ĝ</span>C). These include surface air temperature and related impacts, the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, which impacts ocean net primary productivity, and changes in ice sheet surface mass balance, which impacts sea level rise. Others, including global precipitation changes and the recovery of the Antarctic ozone hole, depend strongly on the amount of SAG application. Furthermore, land net primary productivity as well as ocean acidification depend mostly on the global atmospheric <span classCombining double low line"inline-formula">CO2</span> concentration and therefore the baseline scenario. Multi-model comparisons of experiments that include strong mitigation and carbon dioxide removal with some SAG application are proposed to assess the robustness of impacts on societies and ecosystems.

The effect of mixed partial occupation of metal sites on the phase stability of the γ-Cr_23-x Fe _x C₆ (x = 0-3) carbides is explored as function of composition and temperature. Ab initio calculations combined with statistical thermodynamics approaches reveal that the site occupation of the carbides may be incorrectly predicted when only the commonly used approach of full sublattice occupation is considered. We found that the γ-M₂₃C₆ structure can be understood as a familiar sodium chloride structure with positively charged rhombic dodecahedron (M^(4a) M₁₂ ^(48h)) and negatively charged cubo-octahedron (M₈ ^(32f) C₆ ^(24e)) super-ion clusters, together with interstitial metal atoms at the 8c sites. The stability of the partially occupied phase can be easily rationalized on the basis of a super-ion analysis of the carbide phase. This new understanding of γ-M₂₃C₆ carbides may facilitate further development of high-chromium heat-resistant steels.