These pictures are so cool!

The overall look of the outcrop reminds me of either sinter (the deposits around hotsprings) or exhalites (the deposits that form around underwater hot springs - "black smokers" - which, BTW, are not always black).

The sulfur signal may indicate sulfates like gypsum (CaSO4-2H2O), anhydrite (CaSO4) or others. It may also indicate sulfides like pyrite (FeS2).

Gypsum is typically an evaporative mineral - it forms from the evaporation of hyper-saline waters. It can also precipitate from hypersaline waters within restricted basins. Gypsum is very soluble in water. It is also very soft, therefore easily eroded by windblown abrasives.

There are terrestrial occurances of gypsum rich sinters. It all depends upon the composition of the rocks that host the hydrothermal cell and the temperature and acidity of the hydrothermal fluid.

As for the spheres...well they may be pisolites but then they should have the same composition as the matrix. Or they may be iron concretions. I'm still thinking about these things and waiting for data. Remember- they are very small and they may have existed before the rock that contains them formed. However, iron and other metals as sulfides would be consistant with a hydrothermal model for this outcrop.

If this is a hot spring (or even a warm spring) deposit, then it is a possible site for microbes during its formation.