The easily eroded nature of the Medusae Fossae Formation suggests that it is composed of weakly cemented particles,[2] and was most likely formed by the deposition of wind-blown dust or volcanic ash.

Images from spacecraft show that they have different degrees of hardness probably because of significant variations in the physical properties, composition, particle size, and/or cementation.

[5] Researchers found that nearly all the dust in that coats everything and is in the atmosphere has its origin in the Medusae Fossae formation.

[6] It turns out that the chemical elements (sulfur and chlorine) in this formation, in the atmosphere, and covering the surface are the same.

The amount of dust on Mars is sufficient to form a 2 to 12 meters thick layer over the entire planet.

[7][8] Since there are relatively few depositional features in the Medusae Fossae Formation, most of the materials being eroded are probably small enough to be suspended in the atmosphere and transported long distances.

[9] An analysis of data from the 2001 Mars Odyssey Neutron Spectrometer revealed that parts of the Medusae Fossae Formation contain water.

Lava flows sometimes cool to form large groups of more-or-less equally sized columns.

Since the collision that produces a crater is like a powerful explosion, rocks from deep underground are tossed onto the surface.

[16][17][18] Research published in the journal Icarus has found pits in Tooting Crater that are caused by hot ejecta falling on ground containing ice.

[27] Although first recognized in Viking Orbiter images from the late 1970s,[28][29] dark slope streaks were not studied in detail until higher-resolution images from the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) spacecraft became available in the late 1990s and 2000s.

They are most likely caused by the mass movement of loose, fine-grained material on oversteepened slopes (i.e., dust avalanches).

[32][33] The avalanching disturbs and removes a bright surface layer of dust to expose a darker substrate.

[34] Research, published in January 2012 in Icarus, found that dark streaks were initiated by airblasts from meteorites traveling at supersonic speeds.

The crater cluster lies near the equator 510 miles) south of Olympus Mons, on a type of terrain called the Medusae Fossae formation.

The largest crater in the cluster is about 22 meters (72 feet) in diameter with close to the area of a basketball court.

As the meteorite traveled through the Martian atmosphere it probably broke up; hence a tight group of impact craters resulted.

[38] A detailed discussion of layering with many Martian examples can be found in Sedimentary Geology of Mars.

A detailed discussion of layering with many Martian examples can be found in Sedimentary Geology of Mars.

Martian ground water probably moved hundreds of kilometers, and in the process it dissolved many minerals from the rock it passed through.

They have even blown dust off the solar panels of two Rovers on Mars, thereby greatly extending their useful lifetime.