Layered Sediments in Valles Marineris

Layered sedimentary rocks are key to understanding the geologic history of a planet, recording the sequence of deposition and the changes over time in the materials that were deposited. These layered sediments are on the floor of eastern Coprates Chasma in Valles Marineris, the grandest canyon on Mars. They are erosional remnants of a formerly much more extensive sedimentary deposit that once filled the floor of the canyon but is nowadays reduced to isolated mesas.