The type locality is positioned in the vicinity of Vikinghøgda and Sticky Keep, two low peaks along the southeast edge of Sassendalen (Sassen Valley) in Spitsbergen.

The Vikinghøgda Formation is one of the better records of Early Triassic chronostratigraphy in the Boreal realm, owing to a combination of continuous sedimentation, distinctive index fossils, palynomorph stratigraphy, magnetostratigraphy,[2][4] and trace metal cyclostratigraphy.

The member consists of about 70 meters of silty shales and fine sandstones, lying above the eroded surface of the Permian-age Kapp Starostin Formation.

[6] Some index fossils have biostratigraphic significance, such as the ammonoid Otoceras boreale and the conodonts Neogondolella carinata and Neospathodus svalbardensis.

The ammonoid index fossils Euflemingites romunderi and Wasatchites tardus indicate that the Lusitaniadalen Member was deposited during the Smithian substage of the Olenekian stage.

[8] The depositional environment corresponds to a deeper and calmer conditions, indicative of a major transgression (sea level rise) affecting the continental shelf.

[2] Dark shale (laminated mudstone) dominates the 90-meter-thick Vendomdalen Member, though silty yellowish dolomitic beds also occur.

[9][10][11][12] The Vendomdalen Member corresponds to the deepest part of the continental shelf, with high organic matter deposition and no influence from storm events.

[20][21] The lists below are based on Kogan & Romano[17] and Bratvold et al.[11] Chondrichthyan remains are predominantly known from the Vendomdalen Member (Grippia Niveau).