P- and S-wave attenuation estimates of stacked basalt flows in the North Atlantic Margin

• Published in: SEG Technical Program Expanded Abstracts 2011
• Main Authors: Schuler, J., Christie, P. A. F., White, R. S.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: SEG 2011
• Subjects: 02 - Geodynamics; Geophysics and Tectonics; North Atlantic
• Online Access: http://eprints.esc.cam.ac.uk/2227/; http://eprints.esc.cam.ac.uk/2227/1/210_Schuler_et_al_SEG2011.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1190/1.3628135

We present compressional (P-) and converted shear (S-) wave attenuation estimates (Q-values) obtained from near zero-offset VSP recordings through stacked basalt flows in the North Atlantic volcanic margin. The estimates are calculated with the classical spectral ratio method and root-mean-square amplitude technique. Effective attenuation estimates of 15–26 and 14–16 are obtained for P- and S-waves, respectively. This is one of the first shear wave attenuation estimates from a stacked basalt formation. Synthetic modeling reveals that seismic attenuation in the stacked basalt flow sequence is mainly caused by scattering, corresponding to Qscat = 27–29 for P- and S-waves where intrinsic energy absorption is small. ©2011 Society of Exploration Geophysicists