Whether the supercontinent cycle (Sc) is the major process driving plate tectonics evolution has not been purposely investigated. If true, it would result in more geological records formed during each supercontinent assembly. In this study, a quantitative statistical approach is used to investigate this question. Six global geological datasets (GGDs) of carbonatite, zircon hafnium, kimberlite, metamorphism, monazite and zircon records are analyzed using Spearman’s correlation (ρ). Ranking the GGDs according to Spearman’s method allows them to be compared. Each GGD shows moderate to very strong correlations (0.5 < ρ < 0.9), with the metamorphism, monazite, zircon and zircon hafnium datasets displaying the most similarities. Each published supercontinent cyclicity (Sc 500 Myr, Sc 600 Myr, Sc 800 Myr and Sc acceleration) is then depicted according to its assembly timing. A second Spearman correlation performed with the four supercontinent cyclicities suggests that the Sc acceleration hypothesis best fits the geological archives (average ρ = 0.45), potentially supporting the supercontinent cycle as the first-order mechanism of plate tectonics evolution. Conversely, constant cyclicities result in weaker correlations (average ρ < 0.26), which could indicate significant decoupling of the geological archives and the supercontinent cycle. Moreover, Sc 600 surprisingly shows no correlation with the six GGDs (average ρ = 0.04). The implications for the supercontinent cycle and the limits of Spearman’s correlation are also discussed.

中文翻译：

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地质记录与超大陆周期相关吗？


超大陆旋回（Sc）是否是驱动板块构造演化的主要过程尚未得到专门研究。如果属实，这将导致每次超级大陆聚集期间形成更多的地质记录。在本研究中，采用定量统计方法来研究这个问题。使用 Spearman 相关性 (ρ) 分析了碳酸盐岩、锆石铪、金伯利岩、变质岩、独居石和锆石记录的六个全球地质数据集 (GGD)。根据 Spearman 方法对 GGD 进行排序可以对它们进行比较。每个 GGD 都显示出中等至非常强的相关性 (0.5 < ρ < 0.9)，其中变质作用、独居石、锆石和锆石铪数据集显示出最多的相似性。然后根据其组装时间描述每个已发布的超大陆周期性（Sc 500 Myr、Sc 600 Myr、Sc 800 Myr 和 Sc 加速度）。对四个超大陆旋回进行的第二次斯皮尔曼相关表明，Sc 加速假说最符合地质档案（平均 ρ = 0.45），可能支持超大陆旋回作为板块构造演化的一级机制。相反，恒定的周期性导致相关性较弱（平均 ρ < 0.26），这可能表明地质档案和超大陆循环之间存在显着的脱钩。此外，令人惊讶的是，Sc 600 与六个 GGD 没有相关性（平均 ρ = 0.04）。还讨论了对超大陆循环的影响和斯皮尔曼相关性的局限性。