Serpentinization : A process by which the upper mantle reacts chemically with seawater to generate serpentine minerals. This process can cause substantial reductions in both P- and S-wave velocities. See Minshull (2002)
Peter Bormann, Keiiti Aki, William H. K. Lee, and Johannes Schweitzer (Compilers and Amenders), Glossary of Terms Interest to Earthquake and Engineering Seismologists (Version 1), Publication records from external use of GFZ scientific infrastructure, Germany 2011. http://gfzpublic.gfz-potsdam.de/pubman/item/escido c:56137:3/component/escidoc:56143/Glossary_rev1.pd f, (ND/ Erthq - Amer) {980}