Overview
- The peer-reviewed analysis, based on satellite imagery and glacier velocity measurements, reports an abrupt retreat in late 2022 published today in Nature Geoscience.
- Hektoria pulled back more than eight kilometers in about two months and shed roughly half its mass, including a burst of 2.5 kilometers over two days.
- After the decades-old floating ice in Larsen B’s embayment broke up, glacier flow accelerated nearly sixfold, thinning the ice to flotation and triggering rapid iceberg calving.
- Scientists describe the rate as extreme for the satellite era yet consistent with mechanisms seen during past deglaciations, noting the process could recur at other Antarctic outlets.
- Experts warn that calving dynamics remain poorly captured in models, making them a major uncertainty for projecting Antarctic contributions to sea-level rise.