Proterozoic Australia–Western United States (AUSWUS) fit between Laurentia and Australia

Abstract

A comparison of the major geological provinces, belts, and lineaments of Proterozoic Laurentia and Australia results in a reconstruction that fits the Mojave terrane of California-Nevada into a reentrant of the Tasman Line of eastern Australia. This reconstruction, to which K. Karlstrom and others gave the acronym AUSWUS (Australia-Western United States), was first proposed by M. Brookfield in 1993 on the basis of matching major lineaments. AUSWUS brings together the remarkably similar Precambrian geology of Mojavia (California-Nevada) and the Broken Hill block (Australia). AUSWUS also provides suitable intercontinental source terranes for zircons in Tasmania, the Belt basin, and Papua New Guinea.