The seismic attenuation structure of the East Pacific Rise

Studies of seismic propagation through oceanic crust have contributed enormously to our understanding of the generation and evolution of oceanic crust. However, such work has largely been confined to the seismic velocity structure. This thesis presents results from a study of seismic attenuation using a data set collected for three-dimensional tomographic imaging of a fast- spreading ridge. The experiment location at 9 deg 30 min N on the East Pacific Rise is the site of a strong mid-crustal seismic reflector which has been inferred to be the roof of a small axial magma chamber at about 1.6 km depth.