Vailulu'u
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Vailulu'u is a massive volcanic sea mount, not discovered until 1975, which rises 4200 m from the sea floor to a depth of 590 m about one-quarter of the way between Ta'u and Rose islands at the eastern end of the American Samoas. The basaltic sea mount, is considered to mark the current location of the Samoan hotspot. The summit of Vailulu'u contains a 2 km wide, 400 m deep oval-shaped caldera. Two principal rift zones extend east and west from the summit, parallel to the trend of the Samoan hotspot, and a third less prominent rift extends southeast of the summit.
The rift zones and escarpments produced by mass wasting phenomena give the sea mount a star-shaped pattern. On July 10, 1973, explosions from Vailulu'u were recorded by SOFAR (hydrophone records of underwater acoustic signals). An earthquake swarm in 1995 may have been related to an eruption from the sea mount. Turbid water above the summit shows evidence of ongoing hydro-thermal plume activity.
Evidence released in 2006 suggest that Vailulu'u may breach the surface of the ocean and officially become an island during this century[1].
