Fig. 3

Results of GEOCARBSULFOR compared to GEOCARBSULF, the COPSE model, and to geochemical proxies. a The black line represents the results from GEOCARBSULFOR, the purple line is the original GEOCARBSULF²¹ and the green dashed line is COPSE²². The grey envelope shows pO₂ predictions from inertinite data³, and the arrowed lines show the boundaries from Fig. 1. The numbered circles denote: (1) the beginning of the Cambrian explosion and a decrease in cerium anomaly values, (2) bioturbation intensification, (3) the Steptoean positive carbon isotope excursion event, (4) the Great Ordovician Biodiversity Event and evidence of the first land plant spores, (5) earliest evidence for vascular land plants, (6) initial evidence for a rise in δ⁹⁸Mo and I/Ca and a decrease in cerium anomaly values, (7) a reduction in abundance of fossilized charcoal, (8) the first forests, (9) widespread mires and (10) a collapse in coal forests, and a rise to dominance of tree ferns^{4,15,50,51,53,55,56,61}. b Marine animal body size⁵⁴ evolution over the Phanerozoic. Є Cambrian, O Ordovician, S Silurian, D Devonian, C Carboniferous, P Permian, T Triassic, J Jurassic, K Cretaceous, Pg Paleogene, Ng Neogene