Bacolor (crater)

Bacolor Crater is a crater in the Casius quadrangle of Mars, located at 33 North and 241.4 West. It is 20.8 km in diameter and was named after the town of Bacolor in the Philippines.[1]

Bacolor Crater
Bacolor Crater Ejecta, as seen by HiRISE. Scale bar is 1000 meters long.
PlanetMars
Coordinates33°N 241.4°W / 33; -241.4
QuadrangleCasius quadrangle
Diameter20.8 km
EponymBacolor, Pampanga, Philippines

The crater shows a double layer of ejecta. The inner layer came first. The impact's heat vaporized the ground and of course any ice where the meteorite struck. Shock waves spread outward from the impact point, smashing rocks and heaving the fragments skyward, along with steam and other hot gases. As the shock wave dug deeper, it excavated a bowl-shaped hole in the ground. A thick, probably hot, slurry of mud, water vapor, and rock fragments flew away from the growing cavity and fell to the ground, making the inner ejecta apron. The innermost portion of this layer covered the ground thickly and, near the crater rim, shows numerous signs of having flowed at least sluggishly.[2]

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