Overview
- Satellite measurements show the glacier pulled back about 25 kilometers between January 2022 and March 2023, with front losses peaking near 800 meters per day in November and December 2022.
- Scientists documented stop‑start detachment events, including up to 2.5 kilometers of retreat over two days in late 2022.
- The collapse followed the breakup of a decades‑old ice shelf at the glacier’s front and coincided with a nearly sixfold increase in ice flow speed.
- Hektoria rests on a shallow bed below sea level, a configuration that reduced grounding contact and let ocean water undercut and thin the ice.
- Researchers warn that similar bed conditions elsewhere in Antarctica could permit comparably rapid retreats, posing a risk of faster sea‑level rise.