Fig. 3. Sediment flux to the oceans and diversity of marine animal families during the Phanerozoic.

Predicted trend in net sediment flux to the ocean (purple curve) and diversity of Cambrian, Palaeozoic and modern marine families (black line indicates total marine families, and Cambrian, Palaeozoic and modern faunas are delimited by white lines, all derived from Sepkoski’s compendium²; http://strata.geology.wisc.edu/jack/). The Pearson coefficient of 0.88 indicates a strong positive correlation between the two variables. The Cambrian explosion and Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event (GOBE), as well as the big five mass extinction events⁹, are indicated.