AVALONIAN OROGENY

a mountain-building event that affected the eastern portion of the Appalachian Geosyncline in late Precambrian time (Precambrian time occurred from 3.96 billion to 540 million years ago). Evidence for the orogeny consists of igneous intrusions, folding of strata, and the development of angular unconformities in the Avalon Peninsula of Newfoundland, the eastern portion of the Maritime Provinces of Canada, and the southeastern coastal area of New England. Thick sequences of late Precambrian clastic sedimentary rocks in the Blue Ridge and Piedmont provinces of the central and southern Appalachians may also be a reflection of the Avalonian orogeny in these areas.