Tutuila

Geography & Climate

Tutuila is located in United States, within the Samoan Hotspot Volcano Group of the broader Southern Pacific Volcanic Regions. Situated at 14.29° S, 170.70° W in the Southern Hemisphere, the volcano lies within a tropical climate zone. With a summit elevation of 653 meters above sea level, Tutuila is a moderately sized peak that remains accessible to hikers and researchers for much of the year. The volcanic landform is characterized as a cluster, which describes the physical shape and structure of the volcanic edifice as observed from the surface.

Geological Context

Tutuila sits in a subduction zone, where one tectonic plate dives beneath another, creating intense heat and pressure that generates magma. Subduction zones are responsible for many of the world's most explosive volcanoes and deadliest eruptions. For communities in United States near Tutuila, this tectonic setting means the volcano is capable of producing powerful explosive eruptions, pyroclastic flows, and lahars that can threaten populated areas within tens of kilometers of the summit. The dominant rock type is basalt / picro-basalt, a dark, fine-grained volcanic rock that forms from rapidly cooling, low-viscosity lava. Basaltic eruptions tend to be less explosive and produce fluid lava flows that can travel long distances. While less immediately dangerous than explosive eruptions, basaltic lava flows can destroy structures and infrastructure in their path, and volcanic gases released during these eruptions can affect air quality over a wide area.

Eruption History Summary

Tutuila has 1 recorded eruption in the geological database, spanning from 440 CE to 440 CE. The most powerful recorded event was a severe eruption capable of regional ash fall and pyroclastic flows in 440 CE, reaching VEI 3 on the Volcanic Explosivity Index.

Significance

With a maximum recorded VEI of 3, Tutuila has produced eruptions capable of generating pyroclastic flows and significant ash fall in the surrounding area. While not among the largest eruptions globally, VEI 3 events pose serious hazards to local populations and can disrupt regional air travel.

GVP Reference Summary

The elongated, extensively eroded Tutuila Island in the center of the Samoan Islands consists of five Pliocene-to-Pleistocene volcanoes constructed along two or three rifts trending SSW-NNE. The Pago basaltic-to-andesitic shield volcano in the center of the 32-km-long island is truncated by an eroded, 9-km-wide caldera that encloses Pago Pago harbor on its west. The caldera is now partially filled by cinder cones and trachytic lava domes. ENE-trending dike complexes are prominently exposed on Pago volcano. Following a lengthy period of erosion, submergence, and the construction of a barrier reef, the Leone Volcanics were erupted during the Holocene along a 5-km-long N-S-trending fissure over a broad area at the southernmost part of the island (Stearns, 1944), forming a group of initially submarine tuff cones and subsequent subaerial cinder cones that produced fresh-looking pahoehoe lava flows. An ash layer overlying a cultural deposit in the SW part of the island was radiocarbon dated at about 440 +/- 200 CE (Addison et al., 2006).

— Smithsonian Institution, Global Volcanism Program