The relatively monotonous succession is typically 30 to 60 centimetres (12 to 24 in) and maximum 2 metres (6.6 ft) thick, but extends over an area of 600,000 square kilometres (230,000 sq mi) across the Southern Permian Basin.

The Kupferschiefer can be found in outcrop or in the subsurface straddling six countries, including parts of the southern North Sea.

Famous finds from the unit include Parasaurus geinitzi, Protorosaurus speneri, Weigeltisaurus jaekeli and Glaurung schneideri.

The Kupferschiefer is a regional stratigraphic unit stretching across an area of 600,000 square kilometres (230,000 sq mi) in the Southern Permian Basin of north-central Europe.

[6] The Kupferschiefer was deposited in a highstand setting,[3] in a deep enclosed basin, covered by the Zechstein sea that was present on the paleocontinent Laurussia, the northern part of Pangea.

[12] 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.

[15] Apatite oxygen isotope 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 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.

[23] 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.

The species epithet of the "Eisleben Shale Fish", or "Kupferschiefer Herring" refers to Johann Karl Freiesleben, the Berghauptmann [de] (mining inspection director) of Saxony.

[41] Other fish found in the Kupferschiefer include Coelacanthus granulatus, Hopleacanthus richelsdorfensis, Acentrophorus glaphyurus, Menaspis armata, Muensterichthys buergeri, Platysomus striatus, and two species of Janassa and Wodnika.