It is usually covered by the Zechstein and lies on top of regionally different formations of late Carboniferous age.
In large parts of Pangaea, the last phases of the Hercynian orogeny were still ongoing during the start of the Permian.
At the same time local crustal extension formed intramontane basins such as the large Permian Basin which covered parts of present-day Germany, Poland, Denmark, the North Sea, the Baltic Sea and the Netherlands.
The upper group has a larger arial distribution since the basin had grown wider.
The German Bentheim Sandstone, which crops out in the Münsterland, is part of the Slochteren Formation.