LATE PROTEROZOIC STRATIGRAPHY AND THE CANADA-AUSTRALIA CONNECTION

New stratigraphic studies in southeastern Australia and northwestern Canada permit a detailed comparison of the Late Proterozoic successions in these two areas. The remarkable similarities support the recent suggestion that the two regions were juxtaposed prior to the opening of the Pacific Ocean. The proposed correlations include a detailed breakdown of Late Proterozoic glacigenic successions and comparison of the overlying latest Precambrian, which involves a series of shoaling-upward sequences. The hypothesis of contiguity could be further tested by searching in the Cordilleran region for Late Proterozoic meteorite-impact ejecta recently documented in southeastern Australia and by isotopic investigation of "correlative" shales and carbonate units.