Richelsdorf mining district (Permian of Germany)

Also known as Lindenschacht; Kupferschiefer, Copper Shale; Richelsdorfer Revier; Richelsdorfer Gebirge, Richelsdorf Mountains

Where: Hesse, Germany (51.0° N, 10.0° E: paleocoordinates 15.3° N, 22.5° E)

• coordinate based on nearby landmark

• local area-level geographic resolution

When: Kupferschiefer Member (Werra Formation), Wuchiapingian (259.9 - 254.2 Ma)

• The Kupferschiefer is the basalmost unit of the Werra Formation, the latter being the basalmost formation of the Zechstein Series (Uppermost Permian of Central Europe).

•Brauns et al. (2003) reported a date of 257.3±1.6 Ma (Late Permian/Lopingian: Wuchiapingian) for the Kupferschiefer based on a Re-Os geochronological study. The presence of the conodont Mesogondolella britannica in Kupferschiefer equivalents supports a middle Wuchiapingian age for the Protorosaurus-bearing levels (Legler et al. 2005, 2008).

• member-level stratigraphic resolution

Environment/lithology: offshore; lithified, black, carbonaceous claystone

• Deposition took place "below wave base in a stratified water body (Paul, 1986a)" (Becker & Bechstädt, 2006, Sedimentology 53, pp. 1083–1120)

•"Sedimentation rates during Kupferschiefer deposition were low (5 mm kyr)1; Füchtbauer, 1968). The Kupferschiefer is thus interpreted as a condensed section, which formed during maximum flooding (Ross & Ross, 1995; Strohmenger et al., 1996a)." (Becker & Bechstädt, 2006)

Size class: macrofossils

Preservation: permineralized

Collection methods: quarrying, mechanical,

• GZG.V = Vertebrate Collection of Geoscience Center of Göttingen University (Geowisschenschafliches Zentrum der Universität Göttingen)

Primary reference: H. v. Meyer. 1856. Zur Fauna der Vorwelt. Band 3. Saurier aus dem Kupferschiefer der Zechsteinformation 28 p. [J. Mueller/T. Liebrecht/T. Liebrecht]more details

Purpose of describing collection: taxonomic analysis

PaleoDB collection 93036: authorized by Johannes Mueller, entered by Torsten Liebrecht on 23.12.2009

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

Reptilia
 Procolophonomorpha -
Parasaurus geinitzi von Meyer 1857 parareptile
GZG.V.010.102 ("formerly numbered 886")
 Diapsida -
Protorosaurus speneri Meyer 1832 archosauromorph
BSP AS VII 1207, IPB R 535, IGPM Mbg. 1796a,b, NHMS SP 236, NMK S 180, NMK S182, NMK SSCH 186, eight specimens in private collections