Global Volcanism Program

The Global Volcanism Program has no activity reports available for Upolu.

The Global Volcanism Program has no Weekly Reports available for Upolu.

The Global Volcanism Program has no Bulletin Reports available for Upolu.

Basic Data

Volcano Number

Last Known Eruption

Elevation

Latitude
Longitude

244030

Unknown - Evidence Credible

1,100 m / 3,609 ft

13.935°S
171.72°W

Morphology

Volcano Landform
Shield

Volcano Types
Shield
Pyroclastic cone(s)

Rock Types

Major
Basalt / Picro-Basalt

Minor
Andesite / Basaltic Andesite
Trachyandesite / Basaltic Trachyandesite
Trachyte / Trachydacite

Tectonic Setting

Subduction zone
Oceanic crust (< 15 km)

Population

Within 5 km
Within 10 km
Within 30 km
Within 100 km

680
13,753
144,419
198,677

Geological Summary

The massive, basaltic shield volcano forming 75-km-long Upolu Island in Samoa is elongated in an E-W direction and was constructed during two periods of extensive eruptions during the Pliocene and Pleistocene. The most extensive activity during the Pleistocene took place along a 20-km segment along the central axis of the island. Following a lengthy period of erosion, the latest lava flows, at least three of which were estimated to be as young as a few hundred to a few thousand years old, were erupted from vents near the crest of the island at its center and western side (Stearns, 1944). One of the youngest flows reached the north-central coast along a roughly 1.5-km-wide front east of Vailele Bay, and another traveled down the Lefaga River channel and reached the SW coast at Lefaga Bay. Apolima Island off the western tip of Upolu is a Holocene tuff cone too young to be fringed by a coral reef, and other reef-free areas along the coastline may be formed by Holocene lava flows.

References

The following references have all been used during the compilation of data for this volcano, it is not a comprehensive bibliography.

IAVCEI, 1973-80. Post-Miocene Volcanoes of the World. IAVCEI Data Sheets, Rome: Internatl Assoc Volc Chemistry Earth's Interior.

Kear D, Wood B L, 1959. The geology and hydrology of western Samoa. New Zeal Geol Surv Bull, 63: 1-92.

Nemeth K, Cronin S J, Lolo F, Leavasa M, Solomona D S, Nelson F, 2007. Volcanic evolution, oral traditions of volcanism of Western Samoa (SW Pacific) and their volcanic hazard implications. Geol Soc New Zeal, New Zeal Geophys Soc Joint Annual Conf, Prog Abs, p 113.

Stearns H T, 1944. Geology of the Samoan Islands. Geol Soc Amer Bull, 55: 1279-1332.

Eruptive History

The Global Volcanism Program is not aware of any Holocene eruptions from Upolu. If this volcano has had large eruptions (VEI >= 4) prior to 12,000 years ago, information might be found on the Upolu page in the LaMEVE (Large Magnitude Explosive Volcanic Eruptions) database, a part of the Volcano Global Risk Identification and Analysis Project (VOGRIPA).

This compilation of synonyms and subsidiary features may not be comprehensive. Features are organized into four major categories: Cones, Craters, Domes, and Thermal Features. Synonyms of features appear indented below the primary name. In some cases additional feature type, elevation, or location details are provided.

Cones

Feature Name

Feature Type

Elevation

Latitude

Longitude

Afolau

Cone

13° 52' 1.00" S

172° 0' 29.00" W

Apolima

Tuff cone

13° 49' 30.00" S

172° 9' 25.00" W

Fanuatapu

Tuff ring

14° 1' 1.00" S

171° 23' 6.00" W

Fiamoe

Cone

13° 55' 23.00" S

171° 47' 31.00" W

Fito

Pyroclastic cone

13° 56' 6.00" S

171° 43' 1.00" W

Fogalepulu

Cone

13° 58' 55.00" S

171° 33' 0.00" W

Laloanea

Cone

13° 55' 0.00" S

171° 50' 13.00" W

Lano-o-Lepa

Cone

14° 0' 11.00" S

171° 30' 4.00" W

Lano-o-Moa

Cone

14° 1' 41.00" S

171° 26' 53.00" W

Lanuata'ata

Cone

13° 54' 47.00" S

171° 50' 38.00" W

Lanuto'o, Lake

Cone

13° 54' 47.00" S

171° 49' 26.00" W

Lauti

Cone

13° 53' 0.00" S

171° 59' 10.00" W

Lua-o-Fafine

Cone

14° 2' 0.00" S

171° 27' 7.00" W

Lua-o-Tane

Cone

14° 2' 0.00" S

171° 26' 53.00" W

Maliota

Cone

13° 53' 17.00" S

171° 54' 25.00" W

Mauga Ali'i

Cone

13° 58' 19.00" S

171° 34' 8.00" W

Mauga-o-Savai'i

Cone

14° 0' 7.00" S

171° 31' 0.00" W

Monono Island

Lava cone

13° 51' 0.00" S

172° 7' 0.00" W

Namu'a

Tuff ring

14° 1' 23.00" S

171° 24' 0.00" W

Nu'ulua

Tuff ring

14° 4' 23.00" S

171° 23' 42.00" W

Nu'utele
Vini

Tuff ring

14° 3' 47.00" S

171° 24' 29.00" W

Pue, Le

Cone

13° 56' 0.00" S

171° 44' 42.00" W

Seuga

Cone

13° 59' 53.00" S

171° 31' 55.00" W

Siga'ele

Cone

13° 54' 18.00" S

171° 52' 5.00" W

Taito'elau

Cone

13° 54' 0.00" S

171° 53' 53.00" W

Tiatala

Cone

14° 0' 0.00" S

171° 30' 25.00" W

Upolu, Tafua

Pyroclastic cone

13° 52' 37.00" S

171° 57' 43.00" W

Viatoa

Cone

13° 55' 0.00" S

171° 46' 0.00" W

Photo Gallery

The massive, basaltic shield volcano forming 75-km-long Upolu Island in Samoa is seen in this Space Shuttle view (with north to the upper left). The youngest lava flows, erupted after a lengthy period of erosion, originated from vents near the crest of the island and may be only a few hundred to a few thousand years old. Apolima Island, the small circular island west of reef-bounded Manono Island off the western tip of Upolu (lower right), is a Holocene tuff cone too young to be fringed by a coral reef.

NASA Space Shuttle image STS111-715-29, 2002 (http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/).

The forested scoria cone of Tafua Upolu rises near the western tip of 75-km-long Upolu Island in Samoa. The shield volcano is elongated in an E-W direction and was constructed during two periods of extensive eruptions during the Pliocene and Pleistocene. Following a lengthy period of erosion, the latest lava flows, at least three of which were estimated to be as young as a few hundred to a few thousand years old, were erupted from vents near the crest of the island at its center and western side.

Photo by Karoly Nemeth (Massey University).

Upolo Island in Samoa is shown in this 8 august 2018 Sentinel-2 satellite image (N is at the top; this image is approximately 70 km across). Younger monogenetic cones and craters that produced lava flows are aligned along the WNW-ESE central ridge, with some lava flows having reached the coast.

Satellite image courtesy of Copernicus Sentinel Data, 2019.

Smithsonian Sample Collections Database

There are no samples for Upolu in the Smithsonian's NMNH Department of Mineral Sciences Rock and Ore collection.

External Sites

Copernicus Browser

The Copernicus Browser replaced the Sentinel Hub Playground browser in 2023, to provide access to Earth observation archives from the Copernicus Data Space Ecosystem, the main distribution platform for data from the EU Copernicus missions.

MIROVA

Middle InfraRed Observation of Volcanic Activity (MIROVA) is a near real time volcanic hot-spot detection system based on the analysis of MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) data. In particular, MIROVA uses the Middle InfraRed Radiation (MIR), measured over target volcanoes, in order to detect, locate and measure the heat radiation sourced from volcanic activity.

MODVOLC Thermal Alerts

Using infrared satellite Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data, scientists at the Hawai'i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, University of Hawai'i, developed an automated system called MODVOLC to map thermal hot-spots in near real time. For each MODIS image, the algorithm automatically scans each 1 km pixel within it to check for high-temperature hot-spots. When one is found the date, time, location, and intensity are recorded. MODIS looks at every square km of the Earth every 48 hours, once during the day and once during the night, and the presence of two MODIS sensors in space allows at least four hot-spot observations every two days. Each day updated global maps are compiled to display the locations of all hot spots detected in the previous 24 hours. There is a drop-down list with volcano names which allow users to 'zoom-in' and examine the distribution of hot-spots at a variety of spatial scales.

WOVOdat
   Single Volcano View
   Temporal Evolution of Unrest
   Side by Side Volcanoes

WOVOdat is a database of volcanic unrest; instrumentally and visually recorded changes in seismicity, ground deformation, gas emission, and other parameters from their normal baselines. It is sponsored by the World Organization of Volcano Observatories (WOVO) and presently hosted at the Earth Observatory of Singapore.

GVMID Data on Volcano Monitoring Infrastructure The Global Volcano Monitoring Infrastructure Database GVMID, is aimed at documenting and improving capabilities of volcano monitoring from the ground and space. GVMID should provide a snapshot and baseline view of the techniques and instrumentation that are in place at various volcanoes, which can be use by volcano observatories as reference to setup new monitoring system or improving networks at a specific volcano. These data will allow identification of what monitoring gaps exist, which can be then targeted by remote sensing infrastructure and future instrument deployments.

Volcanic Hazard Maps

The IAVCEI Commission on Volcanic Hazards and Risk has a Volcanic Hazard Maps database designed to serve as a resource for hazard mappers (or other interested parties) to explore how common issues in hazard map development have been addressed at different volcanoes, in different countries, for different hazards, and for different intended audiences. In addition to the comprehensive, searchable Volcanic Hazard Maps Database, this website contains information about diversity of volcanic hazard maps, illustrated using examples from the database. This site is for educational purposes related to volcanic hazard maps. Hazard maps found on this website should not be used for emergency purposes. For the most recent, official hazard map for a particular volcano, please seek out the proper institutional authorities on the matter.

IRIS seismic stations/networks

Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS) Data Services map showing the location of seismic stations from all available networks (permanent or temporary) within a radius of 0.18° (about 20 km at mid-latitudes) from the given location of Upolu. Users can customize a variety of filters and options in the left panel. Note that if there are no stations are known the map will default to show the entire world with a "No data matched request" error notice.

UNAVCO GPS/GNSS stations

Geodetic Data Services map from UNAVCO showing the location of GPS/GNSS stations from all available networks (permanent or temporary) within a radius of 20 km from the given location of Upolu. Users can customize the data search based on station or network names, location, and time window. Requires Adobe Flash Player.

DECADE Data

The DECADE portal, still in the developmental stage, serves as an example of the proposed interoperability between The Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program, the Mapping Gas Emissions (MaGa) Database, and the EarthChem Geochemical Portal. The Deep Earth Carbon Degassing (DECADE) initiative seeks to use new and established technologies to determine accurate global fluxes of volcanic CO₂ to the atmosphere, but installing CO₂ monitoring networks on 20 of the world's 150 most actively degassing volcanoes. The group uses related laboratory-based studies (direct gas sampling and analysis, melt inclusions) to provide new data for direct degassing of deep earth carbon to the atmosphere.

Large Eruptions of Upolu

Information about large Quaternary eruptions (VEI >= 4) is cataloged in the Large Magnitude Explosive Volcanic Eruptions (LaMEVE) database of the Volcano Global Risk Identification and Analysis Project (VOGRIPA).

EarthChem

EarthChem develops and maintains databases, software, and services that support the preservation, discovery, access and analysis of geochemical data, and facilitate their integration with the broad array of other available earth science parameters. EarthChem is operated by a joint team of disciplinary scientists, data scientists, data managers and information technology developers who are part of the NSF-funded data facility Integrated Earth Data Applications (IEDA). IEDA is a collaborative effort of EarthChem and the Marine Geoscience Data System (MGDS).