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Science 27 November 1992:
Vol. 258. no. 5087, pp. 1470 - 1474
DOI: 10.1126/science.258.5087.1470
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Articles

The Seismic Attenuation Structure of a Fast-Spreading Mid-Ocean Ridge

William S. D. Wilcock 1, Sean C. Solomon 2, G. M. Purdy 3, and Douglas R. Toomey 4

1 Massachusetts Institute of Technology—Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Joint Program in Oceanography, Cambridge, MA 02139
2 Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139
3 Department of Geology and Geophysics, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543
4 Department of Geological Sciences, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403

The two-dimensional P-wave attenuation structure of the axial crust of the East Pacific Rise was obtained from an inversion of waveform spectra collected during an active-source seismic tomography experiment. The structure shows that attenuation near the surface is high everywhere but decreases markedly within 1 to 3 kilometers of the rise axis. The near-axis variation is attributed to the thickening of the surface basalt layer and possibly to in situ changes in porosity related to hydrothermal circulation. High attenuation is also observed beneath the rise axis at depths ranging from about 2 kilometers (less than 1 kilometer beneath the axial magma lens) to the base of the crust. The levels of attenuation in this deeper region require at most only a small fraction of partial melt.

Submitted on July 20, 1992
Accepted on September 24, 1992


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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)