δ18O and Marion Plateau backstripping: Combining two approaches to constrain late middle Miocene eustatic amplitude

δ 18 O benthic values from Leg 194 Ocean Drilling Program Sites 1192 and 1195 (drilled on the Marion Plateau) were combined with deep-sea values to reconstruct the magnitude range of the late middle Miocene sea-level fall (13.6–11.4 Ma). In parallel, an estimate for the late middle Miocene sea-level fall was calculated from the stratigraphic relationship identified during Leg 194 and the structural relief of carbonate platforms that form the Marion Plateau. Corrections for thermal subsidence induced by Late Cretaceous rifting, flexural sediment loading, and sediment compaction were taken into account. The response of the lithosphere to sediment loading was considered for a range of effective elastic thicknesses (10< T e< 40 km). By overlapping the sea-level range of both the deep-sea isotopes and the results from the backstripping analysis, we demonstrate that the amplitude of the late middle Miocene sea …