(MENAFN) A glacier in Antarctica has experienced a dramatic reduction in size, losing almost half of its total length within a mere two months — marking the fastest retreat ever documented, according to reports.

Scientists observed that the Hektoria Glacier, situated on the eastern Antarctic Peninsula, receded roughly 8.2 kilometers (5 miles) between November and December 2022. Over the broader span from January 2022 to March 2023, the glacier had retreated nearly 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) in total.

Researchers explained that the rapid shrinkage was not primarily caused by ocean or atmospheric warming, as had previously been thought. Instead, it resulted from a sudden collapse triggered by a process known as ice plain calving — “when ice breaks away from a flat, weakly grounded section of glacier.”

These observations indicate that glaciers resting on ice plains could be significantly less stable than earlier assumptions suggested. Scientists cautioned that similar mechanisms may put other glaciers in Antarctica at risk of abrupt collapse, with potentially serious implications for global sea levels.

MENAFN06112025000045017281ID1110304566