The Arctic is warming at more than twice the rate of the global average. This warming is influenced by clouds, which modulate the solar and terrestrial radiative fluxes and, thus, determine the surface energy budget. However, the interactions among clouds, aerosols, and radiative fluxes in the Arctic are still poorly understood. To address these uncertainties, the Ny-angstrom lesund Aerosol Cloud Experiment (NASCENT) study was conducted from September 2019 to August 2020 in Ny-angstrom lesund, Svalbard. The campaign's primary goal was to elucidate the life cycle of aerosols in the Arctic and to determine how they modulate cloud properties throughout the year. In situ and remote sensing observations were taken on the ground at sea level, at a mountaintop station, and with a tethered balloon system. An overview of the meteorological and the main aerosol seasonality encountered during the NASCENT year is introduced, followed by a presentation of first scientific highlights. In particular, we present new findings on aerosol physicochemical and molecular properties. Further, the role of cloud droplet activation and ice crystal nucleation in the formation and persistence of mixed-phase clouds, and the occurrence of secondary ice processes, are discussed and compared to the representation of cloud processes within the regional Weather Research and Forecasting Model. The paper concludes with research questions that are to be addressed in upcoming NASCENT publications.

The Ocean Drilling Program (ODP)/Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) three‐leg campaign at Site 1256 (Leg 206, Expeditions 309 and 312) provides the first continuous in situ sampling of fast spread ocean crust from the extrusive lavas, through the sheeted dikes, and down into the uppermost gabbros (Cocos plate; East Pacific Rise; eastern equatorial Pacific). The lowest ∼60 m of the dikes above the gabbros were transformed to “granoblastic dikes” through a metamorphic overprint characterized by two‐pyroxene domains formed under granulite‐facies conditions. Equilibrium temperatures estimated by the two‐pyroxene thermometer range between 930°C and 1050°C, implying that conditions within the granoblastic zone were appropriate for hydrous anatexis, with the potential to generate partial melts of trondhjemitic composition. The downhole evolution of the granoblastic overprint is expressed by systematic changes in texture, phase composition, and calculated equilibrium temperature, consistent with thermal metamorphism by a deeper heat source. Thermal modeling implies a long‐lasting heat source located beneath the granoblastic dikes, providing thermal energy over several thousands of years. The most likely such source is a steady state, high‐level axial magma chamber (AMC) located at the base of the sheeted dike section. We interpret the interval of granoblastic dikes as part of a dynamic conductive boundary overlying the AMC.