Phase transtions ... are never linear

The Hektoria Glacier terminus is seen in February 2024. Naomi Ochwat

Phase transitions ... are never linear. The day before a pond freezes over, half the surface is ice free.
As long as the temp remains below freezing, the next day, the pond's surface is totally frozen.
This is what's happening in Antarctica save the temp is above freezing, not below.

Phase transition of water

A simplified phase diagram for water, showing whether solid ice, liquid water,
or gaseous water vapor is the most stable at different combinations of temperature and pressure.

An Antarctic glacier has experienced a rapid retreat 10 times faster than previously measured, according to new research.

Glaciologists recorded a five-mile retreat in just two months on the Hektoria Glacier on the eastern Antarctic Peninsula -- a rate nearly 10 times faster than previously measured for a grounded glacier, according to a paper published in Nature Geoscience on Monday.

"Glaciers have a tendency to react if you remove the floating part of them," she said.

Later that year, even more ice -- this time from Hektoria -- would fall into the sea.

Grounded glaciers, which are not floated and fixed to the land, typically retreat less than about 1,000 feet per year, the researchers said. But images taken by satellite and plane between November and December 2022 indicate that the glacier retreated nearly half a mile per day at some points, according to the paper.

The Hektoria (right) and Green (left) glaciers are seen in February 2024 surrounded by remnants of ice
that were once attached. Naomi Ochwat