How Hektoria Glacier disintegrated in just two months (VIDEO)

University of Colorado at Boulder

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Hektoria Glacier on Antarctica’s Eastern Peninsula experienced the fastest retreat recorded in modern history—in just two months, nearly 50 percent of the glacier disintegrated. This video illustrates how and why Hektoria Glacier retreated so rapidly in late 2022 and early 2023. New CU Boulder-ledresearch shows the main driver was underlying flat bedrock that enabled the glacier to go afloat after it substantially thinned, causing a rare rapid calving process.

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Lauren Lipuma/CIRES

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