| > Oceanography > Issues > Archive > Volume 23, Number 1 |
2010, Oceanography 23(1):164–165, http://dx.doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2010.80
SPOTLIGHT 8 | Vailulu'u Seamount
Authors | First Paragraph | Full Article | Citation
Authors
Anthony A.P. Koppers | College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, USA
Hubert Staudigel | Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
Stanley R. Hart | Department of Geology and Geophysics, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA, USA
Craig Young | Oregon Institute of Marine Biology, University of Oregon, Charleston, OR, USA
Jasper G. Konter | Department of Geological Sciences, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX, USA
First Paragraph
Vailulu'u seamount is an active underwater volcano that marks the end of the Samoan hotspot trail (Hart et al., 2000). Vailulu'u has a simple conical morphology (Figure 1) with a largely enclosed volcanic crater at relatively shallow water depths, ranging from 590 m (highest point on the crater rim) to 1050 m (crater floor). The crater hosts a 300-m-high central volcanic cone, Nafanua, that was formed between 2001 and 2004. Seismic activity at Vailulu'u included a series of globally recorded magnitude 4.1–4.9 earthquakes in 1973 and 1995, and substantial volcano-tectonic activity recorded over 45 days in 2000, with an average of four earthquakes per day and a maximum of 40 per day (Konter et al., 2004). Hypocenter locations are located directly below the major hydrothermal vent areas (Staudigel et al., 2006).
Full Article
Citation
Koppers, A.A.P., H. Staudigel, S.R. Hart, C. Young, and J.G. Konter. 2010. Spotlight 8: Vailulu'u Seamount. Oceanography 23(1):164–165, http://dx.doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2010.80.