Do geological records correlate with the supercontinent cycle?

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 s ). Ranking the GGDs according to Spearman’s method allows them to be compared. Each GGD shows moderate to very strong correlations (0.5 < ρ s  < 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 s  = 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 s  < 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 s  = 0.04). The implications for the supercontinent cycle and the limits of Spearman’s correlation are also discussed.