The Kupferschiefer (
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
for Copper Shale, also called Copper Slate)
[ or Kupfermergel (Copper Marl), (T1 or Z1)][ is an extensive and remarkable sedimentary unit in Central Europe. The relatively monotonous succession is typically and maximum thick, but extends over an area of across the Southern Permian Basin. The Kupferschiefer can be found in ]outcrop
An outcrop or rocky outcrop is a visible exposure of bedrock or ancient superficial deposits on the surface of the Earth.
Features
Outcrops do not cover the majority of the Earth's land surface because in most places the bedrock or superficial ...
or in the subsurface straddling six countries, including parts of the southern North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...
. The lateral equivalent outcropping in England is called Marl Slate
The Marl Slate Formation is a geological formation in England. Despite its name, it is mostly dolomite rock. The Marl Slate Formation was formed about 273 to 259 million years ago, during the Guadalupian and Lopingian epochs of the late Permian ...
.
Despite its distinctive nature, the Kupferschiefer is not ranked as a formation but is officially declared a sub-unit of the Werra Formation, the lowest formation of the Zechstein Group, overlying the Rotliegend Group. The unit has been dated to 257.3 ± 1.6 Ma, placing it in the Wuchiapingian
In the geologic timescale, the Wuchiapingian or Wujiapingian (from in the Liangshan area of Hanzhong, Shaanxi Province) is an age or stage of the Permian. It is also the lower or earlier of two subdivisions of the Lopingian Epoch or Series. The ...
stage of the Late Permian
Late may refer to:
* LATE, an acronym which could stand for:
** Limbic-predominant age-related TDP-43 encephalopathy, a proposed form of dementia
** Local-authority trading enterprise, a New Zealand business law
** Local average treatment effect, ...
.
The Kupferschiefer comprises black shale
Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4) and tiny fragments (silt-sized particles) of other minerals, especiall ...
s, bituminous
Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term a ...
marl
Marl is an earthy material rich in carbonate minerals, clays, and silt. When hardened into rock, this becomes marlstone. It is formed in marine or freshwater environments, often through the activities of algae.
Marl makes up the lower part o ...
s, mudstone
Mudstone, a type of mudrock, is a fine-grained sedimentary rock whose original constituents were clays or muds. Mudstone is distinguished from '' shale'' by its lack of fissility (parallel layering).Blatt, H., and R.J. Tracy, 1996, ''Petrology. ...
s and limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
s deposited mostly in an open marine setting, with the borders of its extension deposited in a shallow marine environment
Environment most often refers to:
__NOTOC__
* Natural environment, all living and non-living things occurring naturally
* Biophysical environment, the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism or ...
. At time of deposition, the area what is now northern Europe was covered by an enclosed sea; the Zechstein sea, characterized by anoxic
The term anoxia means a total depletion in the level of oxygen, an extreme form of hypoxia or "low oxygen". The terms anoxia and hypoxia are used in various contexts:
* Anoxic waters, sea water, fresh water or groundwater that are depleted of diss ...
conditions.
The Kupferschiefer is renowned for hosting one of the most important copper deposits in the world, which were mined at least since 1199 AD. Other mineral resources found in the unit include zinc
Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Zinc is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodi ...
, vanadium
Vanadium is a chemical element with the symbol V and atomic number 23. It is a hard, silvery-grey, malleable transition metal. The elemental metal is rarely found in nature, but once isolated artificially, the formation of an oxide layer ( pas ...
, lead
Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...
and silver
Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...
.
The Kupferschiefer is also an important lagerstätte
A Lagerstätte (, from ''Lager'' 'storage, lair' '' Stätte'' 'place'; plural ''Lagerstätten'') is a sedimentary deposit that exhibits extraordinary fossils with exceptional preservation—sometimes including preserved soft tissues. These for ...
; having provided fossils of early Archosauromorph
Archosauromorpha (Greek for "ruling lizard forms") is a clade of diapsid reptiles containing all reptiles more closely related to archosaurs (such as crocodilians and dinosaurs, including birds) rather than lepidosaurs (such as tuataras, liza ...
reptile
Reptiles, as most commonly defined are the animals in the class Reptilia ( ), a paraphyletic grouping comprising all sauropsids except birds. Living reptiles comprise turtles, crocodilians, squamates (lizards and snakes) and rhynchocephalians ( ...
s, the ancestors to modern crocodile
Crocodiles (family (biology), family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term crocodile is sometimes used even more loosely to inclu ...
s and extinct dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...
s, as well as pareiasaur
Pareiasaurs (meaning "cheek lizards") are an extinct clade of large, herbivorous parareptiles. Members of the group were armoured with scutes which covered large areas of the body. They first appeared in southern Pangea during the Middle Permian, ...
s, many fossil fish, including ''Coelacanthus granulatus
''Coelacanthus'' ("Hollow Spine") is a genus of extinct coelacanths that first appeared during the Permian period. It was the first genus of coelacanths described, about a century before the discovery of the extant coelacanth. The order Coelaca ...
'', '' Dorypterus hoffmanni'' and '' Palaeoniscum freieslebeni'', flora and other fossils. Famous finds from the unit include '' Parasaurus geinitzi'', ''Protorosaurus speneri
''Protorosaurus'' ("first lizard") is a genus of lizard-like early reptiles. Members of the genus lived during the late Permian period in what is now Germany and Great Britain. Once believed to have been an ancestor to lizards, ''Protorosaurus' ...
'', ''Weigeltisaurus jaekeli
''Weigeltisaurus'' is an extinct genus of weigeltisaurid reptile from the Late Permian Kupferschiefer of Germany and Marl Slate of England. It has a single species, originally named as ''Palaechamaeleo jaekeli'' in 1930 and later assigned the na ...
'' and '' Glaurung schneideri''.
Description
The Kupferschiefer is a regional stratigraphic unit stretching across an area of in the Southern Permian Basin of north-central Europe. The unit is typically thick. In the Rossenray 2 shaft, the unit reaches a maximum thickness of .[Bachmayer & Malzahn, 1983, p.101] The Kupferschiefer unconformably overlies various formations of the Rotliegend Group and the Varsican basement and forms the basal unit of the Zechstein Group
The Zechstein (German either from ''mine stone'' or ''tough stone'') is a unit of sedimentary rock layers of Middle to Late Permian (Guadalupian to Lopingian) age located in the European Permian Basin which stretches from the east coast of Englan ...
.[Paleo-ecosystems, p.2] In some parts of the Zechstein Basin, the Kupferschiefer is underlain by the Mutterflöz Limestone, an organic-lean thin limestone unit.[ Despite its distinctive nature, the Kupferschiefer is not ranked as a formation but is officially declared a sub-unit of the Werra Formation, the lowest formation of the Zechstein Group. The Kupferschiefer is overlain by the Zechstein Limestone sub-unit of the Werra Formation.][
The unit has been dated to 257.3 ± 1.6 Ma, placing it in the ]Wuchiapingian
In the geologic timescale, the Wuchiapingian or Wujiapingian (from in the Liangshan area of Hanzhong, Shaanxi Province) is an age or stage of the Permian. It is also the lower or earlier of two subdivisions of the Lopingian Epoch or Series. The ...
stage of the Late Permian
Late may refer to:
* LATE, an acronym which could stand for:
** Limbic-predominant age-related TDP-43 encephalopathy, a proposed form of dementia
** Local-authority trading enterprise, a New Zealand business law
** Local average treatment effect, ...
.[Ezcurra et al., 2014b] The age of the unit corresponds to the Ilinskoe part of the Sokolki Assemblage Zone of European Russia and the ''Tropidostoma'' Assemblage Zone of the Karoo Basin
The Karoo Supergroup is the most widespread stratigraphy, stratigraphic unit in Africa south of the Kalahari Desert. The group (stratigraphy), supergroup consists of a sequence of units, mostly of nonmarine origin, deposited between the Pennsylvan ...
of South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
.[Tsuji & Müller, 2008, p.1112]
The Kupferschiefer contains up to 30% organic matter,[ with variations across its extent. The basinal facies shows values of between 5 and 25% TOC, while the marginal facies present values up to 7% TOC and swell facies are much poorer in organic matter with values below 1%.][Paleo-ecosystems, p.22]
Basin history
Depositional environment
The Kupferschiefer was deposited in a highstand
A raised shoreline is an ancient shoreline exposed above current water level. These landforms are formed by a relative change in sea level due to global sea level rise, isostatic rebound, and/or tectonic uplift. These surfaces are usually expos ...
setting,[Paleo-ecosystems, p.4] in a deep enclosed basin, covered by the Zechstein sea that was present on the paleocontinent Laurussia
Laurasia () was the more northern of two large landmasses that formed part of the Pangaea supercontinent from around ( Mya), the other being Gondwana. It separated from Gondwana (beginning in the late Triassic period) during the breakup of Pan ...
, the northern part of Pangea
Pangaea or Pangea () was a supercontinent that existed during the late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic eras. It assembled from the earlier continental units of Gondwana, Euramerica and Siberia during the Carboniferous approximately 335 million y ...
.[Paleo-ecosystems, p.7] The basin possibly had periodic connections to the Paleo-Tethys Ocean
The Paleo-Tethys or Palaeo-Tethys Ocean was an ocean located along the northern margin of the paleocontinent Gondwana that started to open during the Middle Cambrian, grew throughout the Paleozoic, and finally closed during the Late Triassic; exi ...
.[Paleo-ecosystems, p.6] Sedimentation rates during Kupferschiefer deposition were low, estimated at per thousand years.[Schwarzer Philipp]
at Fossilworks
Fossilworks is a portal which provides query, download, and analysis tools to facilitate access to the Paleobiology Database
The Paleobiology Database is an online resource for information on the distribution and classification of fossil animals ...
.org
The climate of the Late Permian was extremely variable, with polar icecaps present near the south pole and hot and arid conditions prevailing in the tropic and paleotemperate regions of the northern and southern hemispheres.[Paleo-ecosystems, p.9] The Zechstein sea in the Late Permian was located at paleolatitudes around 15 to 16 degrees north.[ Large areas of Pangea were covered by ]desert
A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About on ...
s and arid conditions also prevailed near the Zechstein sea of the time.[Paleo-ecosystems, p.10]
Apatite
Apatite is a group of phosphate minerals, usually hydroxyapatite, fluorapatite and chlorapatite, with high concentrations of OH−, F− and Cl− ions, respectively, in the crystal. The formula of the admixture of the three most common e ...
oxygen isotope
Isotopes are two or more types of atoms that have the same atomic number (number of protons in their nuclei) and position in the periodic table (and hence belong to the same chemical element), and that differ in nucleon numbers (mass numbers) ...
analysis has revealed that the Late Permian was characterized by a drastic increase in global temperatures, accompanied by a strong rise of eustatic sea level
The eustatic sea level is the distance from the center of the earth to the sea surface. An increase of the eustatic sea level can be generated by decreasing glaciation, increasing spreading rates of the mid-ocean ridges or more mid-oceanic ridges. ...
. The rise in oxygen isotope values was possibly related to an increase in volcanic activity.[Paleo-ecosystems, p.11] The Permian-Triassic extinction event, the biggest extinction event in geologic history, is thought to have been caused mostly by large volcanic provinces of the Siberian Traps
The Siberian Traps (russian: Сибирские траппы, Sibirskiye trappy) is a large region of volcanic rock, known as a large igneous province, in Siberia, Russia. The massive eruptive event that formed the trap rock, traps is one of th ...
.
Mining
Prehistoric finds of slag and bronze from smelting sites on top of or immediately adjacent to outcropping Kupferschiefer ores at Wettelrode, Mohrungen, and Bottendorf in Central Germany evidence Early to Middle Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
mining of the Kupferschiefer ores. The medieval mining history of the Kupferschiefer ores is documented in written sources since at least 1199 A.D. from the Mansfeld district in Central Germany. The Counts of Mansfeld developed several copper mines, smelters, and a mint at the town of Eisleben, where copper and silver coins were minted from the metals of the Kupferschiefer ores.[Borg et al., 2012, p.457]
Germany
The main mining district of the Kupferschiefer in Germany was Mansfeld Land
Mansfeld, sometimes also unofficially Mansfeld-Lutherstadt, is a town in the district of Mansfeld-Südharz, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany.
Protestant reformator Martin Luther grew up in Mansfeld, and in 1993 the town became one of sixteen places in ...
, which operated from at least 1199 AD,[ and has provided 2,009,800 tonnes of copper and 11,111 tonnes of silver.][Borg et al., 2012, p.458] The Mansfeld mining district was exhausted in 1990.[Borg et al., 2012, p.455][Borg et al., 2012, p.475]
Eisleben in the Mansfeld Land is the type locality of two minerals;[Eisleben, Mansfeld]
at Mindat.org the nickel
Nickel is a chemical element with symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel is a hard and ductile transition metal. Pure nickel is chemically reactive but large pieces are slow to ...
-arsenate
The arsenate ion is .
An arsenate (compound) is any compound that contains this ion. Arsenates are salts or esters of arsenic acid.
The arsenic atom in arsenate has a valency of 5 and is also known as pentavalent arsenic or As(V).
Arsenate resem ...
maucherite
Maucherite is a grey to reddish silver white nickel arsenide mineral. It crystallizes in the tetragonal crystal system. It occurs in hydrothermal veins alongside other nickel arsenide and sulfide minerals. It is metallic and opaque with a hardnes ...
,[Maucherite]
at Mindat.org and betekhtinite, a copper-lead-iron sulfide.[Betekhtinite]
at Mindat.org The latter mineral has a co-type locality in the Ernst-Thälmann shaft, that operated from 1906 to 1962 and produced 260,000 tons of copper; about 10% of the overall production from the Mansfeld area.[Ernst-Thälmann shaft, Mansfeld]
at Mindat.org
Many minerals have been found in the Sangerhausen
Sangerhausen () is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, central Germany, capital of the district of Mansfeld-Südharz. It is situated southeast of the Harz, approx. east of Nordhausen, and west of Halle (Saale). About 26,000 people live in Sangerhausen (2 ...
district of Saxony-Anhalt
Saxony-Anhalt (german: Sachsen-Anhalt ; nds, Sassen-Anholt) is a state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of
and has a population of 2.18 million inhabitants, making it the ...
,[Copper slate deposits, Sangerhausen]
at Mindat.org[Bernard Koenen shafts I and II, Copper slate deposits, Sangerhausen]
at Mindat.org which produced 619,200 tonnes of copper and 3,102 tonnes of silver as of 2012, with 860,000; respectively 4,650 tonnes as remaining proven reserves.[
In the Spremberg-Graustein-Schleife mining area, stretching across the ]Brandenburg
Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a states of Germany, state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an ar ...
district
A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...
Spree-Neiße
Spree-Neiße ( dsb, Wokrejs Sprjewja-Nysa) is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the southern part of Brandenburg, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from the south clockwise) the districts Niederschlesischer Oberlausitzkreis and Kamenz in Saxony, the di ...
and Görlitz
Görlitz (; pl, Zgorzelec, hsb, Zhorjelc, cz, Zhořelec, :de:Ostlausitzer Mundart, East Lusatian dialect: ''Gerlz'', ''Gerltz'', ''Gerltsch'') is a town in the Germany, German state of Saxony. It is located on the Lusatian Neisse River, and ...
in Saxony, the Kupferschiefer is estimated to contain 130 million tonnes of ore, of which 1,486,000 tonnes of copper,[ with a copper content of 1.47%. The mining district is about and the copper-bearing beds lie at a depth between .][KSL Kupferschiefer Lausitz GmbH]
/ref>
The Kupferschiefer contains up to 3% copper, 10 ppm of platina
Platina is a municipality ''( município)'' in the state of São Paulo in Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and ...
and up to 3000 ppm gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...
.[Drama im Kupferschiefermeer]
/ref>
The "Im Lochborn" mine, mining from the Kupferschiefer,[Borg et al., 2012, p.456] located in Bieber
Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Bieber is recognized for his genre-melding musicianship and has played an influential role in modern-day popular music. He was discovered by American record executive Scooter B ...
, Hessen
Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major historic cities are Darm ...
is the type locality of the mineral bieberite
Bieberite (CoSO4 · 7H2O) is a pinkish red colored sulfate mineral high in cobalt content. The name is derived from the type locality at the copper deposit in Bieber, Hesse, Germany. It has been described and reported as far back as the 1700s.Sage ...
,["Im Lochborn" mine, Bieber, Hessen]
at Mindat.org a cobalt
Cobalt is a chemical element with the symbol Co and atomic number 27. As with nickel, cobalt is found in the Earth's crust only in a chemically combined form, save for small deposits found in alloys of natural meteoric iron. The free element, pr ...
sulfate
The sulfate or sulphate ion is a polyatomic anion with the empirical formula . Salts, acid derivatives, and peroxides of sulfate are widely used in industry. Sulfates occur widely in everyday life. Sulfates are salts of sulfuric acid and many ar ...
named after the location.[Bieberite]
at Mindat.org The mineral rösslerite, a magnesium
Magnesium is a chemical element with the symbol Mg and atomic number 12. It is a shiny gray metal having a low density, low melting point and high chemical reactivity. Like the other alkaline earth metals (group 2 of the periodic ta ...
arsenate
The arsenate ion is .
An arsenate (compound) is any compound that contains this ion. Arsenates are salts or esters of arsenic acid.
The arsenic atom in arsenate has a valency of 5 and is also known as pentavalent arsenic or As(V).
Arsenate resem ...
, also has the mine as type locality.[Rösslerite]
at Mindat.org
Poland
Two main Kupferschiefer mining areas in Poland are the North-Sudetic trough, with 212,894 tonnes of copper and 756.7 tonnes of silver mined as of 2012 and an estimated remaining reserves of 1,460,000 tonnes of copper, and the Fore-Sudetic monocline, with more than 20,000,000 tonnes of copper and more than 14,085 tonnes of silver mined since 1949. Main mining districts in Poland are the Głogów industrial district, the Lubichów and Grodziec fields, and the Konrad, Lena, Lubin, Nowy Kosciół, Polkowice, Rudna and Sieroszowice mines.[ The latter mine][Sieroszowice mine]
at Mindat.org is the type locality for the silver- quicksilver amalgame, eugenite.[Eugenite]
at Mindat.org The Polkowice mine is the type locality for two rare lead
Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...
and germanium
Germanium is a chemical element with the symbol Ge and atomic number 32. It is lustrous, hard-brittle, grayish-white and similar in appearance to silicon. It is a metalloid in the carbon group that is chemically similar to its group neighbors s ...
-bearing sulfide
Sulfide (British English also sulphide) is an inorganic anion of sulfur with the chemical formula S2− or a compound containing one or more S2− ions. Solutions of sulfide salts are corrosive. ''Sulfide'' also refers to chemical compounds lar ...
minerals;[Polkowice mine]
at Mindat.org polkovicite, named after the mine,[Polkovicite]
at Mindat.org and morozeviczite.[Morozeviczite]
at Mindat.org
Paleontological significance
The Kupferschiefer has provided unique fossils of an early reptile; ''Protorosaurus speneri
''Protorosaurus'' ("first lizard") is a genus of lizard-like early reptiles. Members of the genus lived during the late Permian period in what is now Germany and Great Britain. Once believed to have been an ancestor to lizards, ''Protorosaurus' ...
'' belonging to the Archosauromorpha
Archosauromorpha (Greek for "ruling lizard forms") is a clade of diapsid reptiles containing all reptiles more closely related to archosaurs (such as crocodilians and dinosaurs, including birds) rather than lepidosaurs (such as tuataras, liza ...
, as well as Pareiasaur
Pareiasaurs (meaning "cheek lizards") are an extinct clade of large, herbivorous parareptiles. Members of the group were armoured with scutes which covered large areas of the body. They first appeared in southern Pangea during the Middle Permian, ...
ia, fish, an insect and fossil flora.
As of 2014, at least 28 ''Protorosaurus speneri'' specimens are known from the Kupferschiefer in the states of Thuringia and Hesse in central Germany.[Ezcurra et al., 2014a, p.7] The type locality for the species is Glücksbrunn, Heidelberg, near Schweina in Thuringia.[Glücksbrunn/Heidelberg near Schweina]
at Fossilworks
Fossilworks is a portal which provides query, download, and analysis tools to facilitate access to the Paleobiology Database
The Paleobiology Database is an online resource for information on the distribution and classification of fossil animals ...
.org[Ezcurra, 2016, p.22] The type locality for '' Parasaurus geinitzi'' is Walkenried
Walkenried () is a municipality in the district of Göttingen, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated in the southern Harz, approx. 15 km south of Braunlage, and 15 km northwest of Nordhausen.
Walkenried was the seat of the ''Samtgeme ...
in Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...
.[Tsuji & Müller, 2008][Walkenried]
at Fossilworks
Fossilworks is a portal which provides query, download, and analysis tools to facilitate access to the Paleobiology Database
The Paleobiology Database is an online resource for information on the distribution and classification of fossil animals ...
.org Fossils of both species were found containing quartz
Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical form ...
pebbles in their guts.[Munk & Kues, 1993, p.171][Munk & Kues, 1993, p.172]
Fossil fish of the species ' are abundantly found in different locations in the Kupferschiefer. The species epithet of the "Eisleben Shale Fish", or "Kupferschiefer Herring
Herring are forage fish, mostly belonging to the family of Clupeidae.
Herring often move in large schools around fishing banks and near the coast, found particularly in shallow, temperate waters of the North Pacific and North Atlantic Oceans, i ...
" refers to , the (mining inspection director) of Saxony
Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...
.[''Palaeoniscum freieslebeni'']
at Museum Schloss Bernburg Other fish found in the Kupferschiefer include ''Coelacanthus granulatus
''Coelacanthus'' ("Hollow Spine") is a genus of extinct coelacanths that first appeared during the Permian period. It was the first genus of coelacanths described, about a century before the discovery of the extant coelacanth. The order Coelaca ...
'', '' Hopleacanthus richelsdorfensis'', '' Acentrophorus glaphyurus'', '' Menaspis armata'', '' Muensterichthys buergeri'', '' Platysomus striatus'', and two species of ''Janassa
''Janassa'' is an extinct genus of petalodont cartilaginous fish that lived in marine environments in what is now central United States of America and Europe during the Carboniferous and upper Permian.
It is known from teeth and a few poorl ...
'' and '' Wodnika''.
Fossil content
Geologic maps
''Zechstein in blue''
File:Geomap Rhoen.jpg, Rhoen
File:Thuringian Forest Geology.png, Thuringian Forest
File:Geomap Thur-Franc-Vogtl-SM.png, Thuringian-Franconian mountains
File:Elm Asse Dorm geol.png, Eastern Brunswick
See also
* List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in Denmark
See also
* Lists of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in Europe
** List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in Norway
** List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in Sweden
** List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in Germany
References ...
* List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in Germany
See also
* Lists of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in Europe
These lists of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in Europe enumerate the rock layers which preserve the fossilized remains of ancient life in Europe by the modern countries wher ...
* List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in the Netherlands
* List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in Poland
* Rio do Rasto Formation
The Rio do Rasto Formation is a Late Permian sedimentary geological formation in the South Region of Brazil. The official name is Rio do Rasto, although in some publications it appears as ''Rio do Rastro''.
Geography
It is found mainly in the B ...
, contemporaneous fossiliferous formation of the Paraná Basin
The Paraná Basin ( pt, Bacia do Paraná, es, Cuenca del Paraná) is a large cratonic sedimentary basin situated in the central-eastern part of South America. About 75% of its areal distribution occurs in Brazil, from Mato Grosso to Rio Grande d ...
, Brazil
* Copperfields Mine
Copperfields Mine, originally known as Temagami Mine, is an abandoned copper and silver mine on Temagami Island in Lake Temagami, Ontario, Canada. The mine opened in 1955 and comprises both underground and surface workings within a sulfide ore b ...
of Canada
* Copper Country
The Copper Country is an area in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in the United States, including Keweenaw County, Michigan, Houghton, Baraga and Ontonagon counties as well as part of Marquette County. The area is so named as copper mining was ...
of Michigan
* Chuquicamata
Chuquicamata ( ; referred to as Chuqui for short) is the largest open pit copper mine in terms of excavated volume in the world. It is located in the north of Chile, just outside Calama, at above sea level. It is northeast of Antofagasta and n ...
of Chile
* Copperbelt Province
Copperbelt Province is a province in Zambia which covers the mineral-rich Copperbelt, and farming and bush areas to the south. It was the backbone of the Northern Rhodesian economy during British colonial rule and fuelled the hopes of the immed ...
of Zambia
* Old Adaminaby and Lake Eucumbene
Old Adaminaby and Lake Eucumbene are the heritage-listed former town of Adaminaby and the reservoir that flooded the town, now at Eucumbene, Snowy Valleys Council, New South Wales, Australia. The town was established in 1830. The reservoir was ...
of Australia
References
Bibliography
;Geology
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;Paleontology
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External links
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Images of ''Palaeoniscum freieslebeni'' from the Kupferschiefer
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Kupferschiefer.de
{{Authority control
Geologic formations of Denmark
Geologic formations of Germany
Geologic formations of Lithuania
Geologic formations of the Netherlands
Geologic formations of Poland
Geologic formations of Russia
Shale formations
Mudstone formations
Marl formations
Limestone formations
Open marine deposits
Shallow marine deposits
Source rock formations
Fossiliferous stratigraphic units of Europe
Paleontology in Germany
Mining in Germany
Mining in Poland
Copper mines
Formations
Permian System of Europe