ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Keuper marl

Keuper marl is a type of rock made up of clay and fossils that lived a long time ago. You might see rocks at the park or by the river that look like they are made up of different layers. Keuper marl is one of those types of rocks that has layers.

The clay in keuper marl is like the stuff you use to make pottery. It is very soft and easy to mold when it is wet, but it gets hard and brittle when it is dry. The fossils in keuper marl are the remains of animals that lived a long time ago. Some of these animals were small creatures that lived in the ocean, while others were big animals that roamed the land.

Keuper marl is special because it was formed a very long time ago, when dinosaurs were still around. The layers in the rock tell us about what the environment was like back then. For example, if there are layers of shells in the keuper marl, that tells us that the area where it was formed used to be covered by the ocean.

Scientists love studying keuper marl because it gives us a peek into what life was like a long time ago. It's like a time machine!