Seismic attenuation and its relationship to borehole stratigraphy in t
he upper 1.8 km of ocean basement at Hole 504B are determined from ana
lysis of vertical seismic profile (VSP) data. VSP data provide unambig
uous measurements of seismic amplitude decay along a vertical propagat
ion path through the crust, and ancillary borehole measurements enable
detailed modeling of the relative contributions from geometrical spre
ading, scattering, and intrinsic loss mechanisms to this decay. About
60% of the total observed amplitude decay occurs in the pillow basalt
section and is due mostly to geometrical spreading and scattering from
impedance contrasts. The remaining amplitude decrease is concentrated
in two layers, at 500-650 and 800-900 meters below seafloor (mbsf) (2
25-375 and 525-625 m below basement), across which amplitude rapidly d
ecays and the frequency characteristics of the downgoing wave field ar
e significantly and permanently modified. Attenuation in these layers
is not due to scattering but rather to an intrinsic mechanism that can
be characterized by Q of 10 and 8, respectively. It is likely that th
e Q structure of both of these intervals is formed with the crust near
the ridge and thus related to fundamental ocean crust forming process
es. The shallow interval coincides with a change in alteration mineral
ogy deposited by late-stage fluid flow and may separate lower lavas th
at were emplaced within the rift lone from upper lavas that were empla
ced by off-axis flow through large lava tubes. Intrinsic attenuation i
n the deeper horizon is probably due to an increase in porosity and cr
acking associated with either intracrustal deformation or subhorizonta
l faulting. There is negligible attenuation of seismic frequencies in
the dikes below 1000 mbsf (similar to 725 m subbasement).