Light Layered Deposits in Valles Marineris Region (CTX Frame - Natural Colors; credits: Lunexit)

This image shows bright Layered Deposits near the junction of Coprates Chasma and Melas Chasma, both part of the Valles Marineris Canyon System.

The Outcrop visible in this frame is found in a wide Alcove located in the Northern Wall and it forms a broad mound which is several kilometers wide; dark, wind-blown materials cover it in places.
Similar light-toned rock occurs in many places of the Valles Marineris.

An important question is when these materials formed: were they deposited within the Troughs after they opened and then eroded, or are they remnants of the Wall Rock?
Analysis of the orientation of the layers using HiRISE images may help scientists answer this question.
There are no fresh Impact Craters preserved on the Outcrop Surface, suggesting that the Layered Deposits are being eroded rapidly enough to erase the Craters.

In many places, the light rocks have regular fractures called "Joints". Joints are common in Earthly rocks and HiRISE images show them in many places on Mars as well.
These Joints can provide information about the forces that affected - in time - the rocks of this area, and therefore they could also help us to (at least partially) unravel the Geologic History of Mars in general and this Outcrop in particular.