In 2020, a group of researchers headed by Peter Mouginis-Mark has hypothesized that the formation could have been formed from pumice rafts from the volcano Olympus Mons.

[6] An analysis of data from the Mars Odyssey Neutron Spectrometer revealed that the western lobe of the Medusae Fossae Formation contains some water.

[7] By means of a re-analysis of data from Mars Express' MARSIS radar, Thomas Watters found evidence about the existence of large underground water deposits in Medusae Fossae up to 3.7 km thick and covered by hundreds of meters of dust.

[1] Radar imaging has suggested that the region may contain either extremely porous rock (for example volcanic ash) or deep layers of glacier-like ice deposits amounting to about the same quantity as is stored in Mars' south polar cap.

[12] Comparisons of elemental composition suggest that the Medusae Fossae Formation has been a source of Mars' ubiquitous surface dust.

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

[17] 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.