During the last decades, provenance studies have proven to be an invaluable tool to evaluate modern and ancient sedimentary environments and to reconstruct the paleogeography and evolution of different tectonic settings. Whereas in the past provenance studies were mainly based on qualitative comparisons of whole-rock sandstone detrital modes, the advance and implementation of microanalytical techniques driven by the community during the last ∼15 years permit the quantification of detrital-mineral ages and the isotopic characterization by in situ analysis. The combination of ages, isotopes, and mineral chemistry of individual detrital components provides a better understanding and reconstruction of source-to-sink systems. However, the introduction of these largely accessible microanalytical techniques has produced a large amount of data that requires proper management to be objectively interpreted. While a quantitative comparison between the age distributions of detrital sample pairs can be easily performed by Kolmogorov-Smirnov (K–S) statistics, comparing multi-samples data sets requires a more complex statistical approach. One of those is Multidimensional Scaling analysis (MDS), which allows, by using K–S statistics, to compare the dissimilarity between two or more samples. To compare among samples, a dissimilarities matrix, based on the stress from the ideal fit, is constructed. Dissimilarities are graphically represented in a “map” that tends to group more similar samples, pulling apart those that are more dissimilar. We contribute with three examples from the Mexican geology, showing how MDS can be used to evaluate in a more objective way the provenance of clastic rocks. We show that the MDS is more suitable than the visual comparison of probability density plots and kernel density estimations in marking the similarities and differences between the available samples; thus, it is a more suitable approach to reconstruct more rigorously the evolution of source-to-sink systems. Particularly, we examine fluvial to deep-marine Triassic strata, Paleozoic–lower Mesozoic metasedimentary rocks of the Ayú and Acatlán complexes, and Upper Jurassic–Cretaceous successions of the Pacific continental margin. The MDS challenges the scenario in which all Triassic submarine fan deposits of Mexico were part of a giant single fan developed along the Mexican Pacific margin, and supports the idea that the western margin of Pangea was drained by different fluvial systems that supplied distinct submarine fans. Applied to the Paleozoic–lower Mesozoic metasedimentary rocks of southern Mexico, this approach shows major dissimilarities between the Ayú and the Acatlán complexes, supporting the idea that these are likely two different tectonic complexes. Finally, the MDS suggests that two distinct and independent provenance domains were established in Mexico during the development of the Upper Jurassic–Early Cretaceous Arperos back-arc basin, and that such a detrital signature compartmentalization was lost by the end of Early Cretaceous time with the advent of compressive tectonics and the development of orogenic belts.

在过去的几十年中，物产研究已被证明是评估现代和古代沉积环境以及重建古地理和不同构造环境演化的宝贵工具。过去的物源研究主要是基于全岩石砂岩碎屑模式的定性比较，而在过去约15年间，由社区推动的微观分析技术的进步和实施允许对碎屑矿物年龄进行定量和同位素表征。原位分析。各个碎屑组分的年龄，同位素和矿物化学的结合，可以更好地理解和重建源-汇系统。但是，这些易于使用的微观分析技术的引入产生了大量数据，需要对客观的解释进行适当的管理。尽管可以通过Kolmogorov-Smirnov（KS）统计数据轻松进行碎屑样本对年龄分布之间的定量比较，但比较多样本数据集则需要更复杂的统计方法。其中之一是多维标度分析（MDS），它可以通过使用KS统计量来比较两个或多个样本之间的差异。为了在样本之间进行比较，基于理想拟合的应力构造了一个相异矩阵。差异在“图”中以图形方式表示，该图倾向于将更多相似的样本分组，将那些差异更大的样本拉开。我们以墨西哥地质学中的三个实例为例，展示了如何使用MDS以更客观的方式评估碎屑岩的来源。我们显示，MDS比概率密度图和核密度估计的视觉比较更适合标记可用样本之间的相似性和差异。因此，这是一种更严格地重建源到汇系统演化的更合适的方法。特别是，我们研究了河流至深海三叠纪地层，Ayú和Acatlán复合体的古生代-下中生界准沉积岩，以及太平洋大陆边缘的上侏罗统-白垩纪演替。MDS挑战了墨西哥的所有三叠纪海底扇沉积物都是沿墨西哥太平洋边缘发展的巨型单扇的一部分的情况，并支持这样的想法，即Pangea的西边缘被不同的河流系统所消耗，这些河流系统提供了独特的海底扇。这种方法适用于墨西哥南部的古生代-下中生界准沉积岩，显示出阿尤（Ayú）和阿卡特兰（Acatlán）复合物之间的主要差异，支持了这样的观点，即它们可能是两种不同的构造复合物。最后，MDS建议在上侏罗纪至早白垩世Arperos后弧盆地的开发过程中，在墨西哥建立了两个不同且独立的物源域，