We use spectral-element and adjoint methods to iteratively improve crust and upper mantle images of Europe and the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. 159 earthquakes with magnitudes from 5 to 6.5 recorded at 33 stations are used in the iterative preconditioned conjugate-gradient inversion. Crustal model EP crust 1.0 combined with mantle model S362ANI comprise the initial 3D model EU00. With each subsequent iteration, higher frequency signals are added to the inversion. Current model EU 18 reveals many interesting features. For instance, slabs underneath the Hellenic, Vrancea and Calabria arcs, slab detachment underneath the Central Apennines, mantle upwelling associated with the Eifel hotspot, slow wave speed structures in several back-arc basins, e.g., the Ponnonian basin and Tyrrhenian sea, the sharp transition of the Teisseyre-Tornquist suture zone between Central Europe and the East European platform.