Mount Matavanu
{{Short description|Volcano in Savaiʻi, Samoa}}
{{Infobox mountain
| name = Matavanu
| photo = Volcano,Savaii.(.Photographer’s.Title).Andrew.Thomas 1906.jpg
| photo_caption = Matavanu erupting, 1906
| elevation_m = 575
| elevation_ref = [http://www.peakbagger.com/peak.aspx?pid=-28644 "Mt Matavanu, Samoa"]. Peakbagger.com. Retrieved 2014-04-28.
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| location = Savai'i Island in Samoa
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| map = Samoa
| range_coordinates =
| map_caption = Location in Samoa
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| language = Samoan
| coordinates = {{coord|13|32|S|172|24|W|type:mountain_region:WS_scale:100000|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
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| last_eruption = 1905 - 1911
| first_ascent =
| easiest_route =
}}
Mount Matavanu is an active volcano on the island of Savaiʻi in Samoa. The volcano was formed during an eruption in 1905.{{cite journal |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/085092a0.pdf |title=Matavanu: a New Volcano in Savaii (German Samoa) |journal=Nature |volume=85 |issue= 2142|pages=92–93 |date=17 November 1910 |doi=10.1038/085092a0 |bibcode=1910Natur..85...92. |s2cid=3986507 |access-date=29 July 2021}} Lava flows from the eruption covered a large area of land in the Gagaʻemauga district, leading to the relocation of several villages.
The name of the mountain refers to a valley (vanu) with an eye-shaped feature (mata).{{cite journal |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/309542007 |title=Eruption Styles of Samoan Volcanoes Represented in Tattooing, Language and Cultural Activities of the Indigenous People |last1=Fepuleai |first1=Aleni |last2=Weber |first2=Eberhard |last3=Nemeth |first3=Karoly |last4=Muliaina |first4=Tolu |journal=Geoheritage |volume=9 |issue=3 |pages=395–411 |date=2016 |access-date=30 July 2021 |doi=10.1007/s12371-016-0204-1|s2cid=164339457 }}
In November 2022 Matavanu was recognised by the International Union of Geological Sciences as an international Geological Heritage Site.{{cite web |url=https://www.samoaobserver.ws/category/samoa/100546 |title=Mt Matavanu becomes heritage site |publisher=Samoa Observer |author=Shalveen Chand |date=12 November 2022 |access-date=12 November 2022}}
1905 – 1911 eruption
The eruption began on 4 August 1905, with a new crater being formed nine miles to the east of Mata o le Afi, which had erupted in 1902.{{cite news |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH19050829.2.31 |title=VOLCANIC ERUPTION. |work=New Zealand Herald |date=29 August 1905 |page=5 |access-date=29 July 2021 |via=Papers Past}} An expedition led by governor Wilhelm Solf observed flames shooting 400 feet into the sky at intervals of ten seconds along with lava flowing through the bush. An expedition to examine the crater found "a larger heap of stones about 300ft high, from the top of which, at intervals of about 10 seconds, masses of stone were being thrown up into the air". A lava-flow 100 feet high had flowed 2.5 miles towards the sea.
The early phase of the eruption was mostly explosive, but in September large amounts of lava had begun to flow from the crater.{{cite news |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH19050914.2.112 |title=THE VOLCANO AT SAVAII. |work=New Zealand Herald |date=14 September 1905 |page=6 |access-date=29 July 2021 |via=Papers Past}} In mid-September, the cone was estimated at 600 feet high, and lava covered 20 to 25 square miles to a depth of 300 to 400 feet.{{cite news |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/PBH19050925.2.39 |title=THE SAVAII ERUPTION. |work=Poverty Bay Herald |date=25 September 1905 |page=4 |access-date=29 July 2021 |via=Papers Past}} In December the village of Toapaipai was destroyed by a lava flow,{{cite news |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/ESD19060123.2.66 |title=SAVAII IN ERUPTION. |work=Evening Star |date=23 January 1906 |page=6 |access-date=29 July 2021 |via=Papers Past}} By March 1906 lava had reached the sea, and was flowing parallel to the coast along the top of the reef.{{cite web |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WAG19060308.2.9 |title=TOPICAL READING. |publisher=Wairarapa Age |date=8 March 1906 |page=4 |access-date=29 July 2021 |via=Papers Past}} The villages of Salago and Sale'aula were destroyed, and the destruction of crops from volcanic fumes was causing famine.{{cite web |title=German Samoa 1900-1914 |url=https://samoanstudies.ws/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Chapter-7.pdf |page=121 |publisher= |date= |access-date=29 July 2021}} In September 1906 geologist H. J. Jensen reported that lave flows had covered 35 square miles, and that what was once a low valley a hundred feet deep had been replaced by a bulging mass of dried lava 1500 feet high.{{cite news |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TS19060929.2.19 |title=VOLCANIC ACTIVITY IN THE ISLANDS. |work=Christchurch Star |date=29 September 1906 |page=2 |access-date=29 July 2021 |via=Papers Past}} The cone was now 330 feet high, and contained a lava lake. While Jensen reported the volcano was dying down, another explosive eruption began on 5 October 1906, and lava began to flow eastwards.{{cite news |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/PBH19061124.2.84 |title=ISLAND NEWS. |work=Poverty Bay Herald |date=24 November 1906 |page=7 |access-date=29 July 2021 |via=Papers Past}} In June 1908 lava was reportedly flowing in a stream 8 miles wide,{{cite news |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/OAM19080912.2.28.8 |title=Island Ruined by a Volcano |work=Oamaru Mail |date=12 September 1908 |page=2 |access-date=29 July 2021}} but by July 1908 it had quietened again.{{cite news |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19080806.2.64 |title=SAMOA'S VOLCANO |publisher=Dominion |date=6 August 1908 |page=8 |access-date=29 July 2021 |via=Papers Past}} In 1910 it was described as "the most active volcano in the world".{{cite news |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-404099021/view?sectionId=nla.obj-413470054 |title=The Most Active Volcano in the World |work=The Lone Hand |author=J. E. Newell |volume=7 |issue=40 |pages=274–278 |date=1 August 1910 |access-date=30 July 2021 |via=National Library of Australia}}
Activity finally began to die down in early 1911, and had ceased by October 1911.{{cite news |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/OAM19120406.2.64.12 |title=SAMOA'S VOLCANIC OUTBURSTS CEASE. |work=Oamaru Mail |date=6 April 1912 |page=3 |access-date=29 July 2021 |via=Papers Past}}
Several villages were relocated to Upolu due to the eruption. The people of Sale'aula were relocated to Salamumu, while those of Mauga and Samalaeʻulu were moved to Le'auva'a.
IUGS geological heritage site
In respect of it being 'one of the best examples in the SW Pacific of an oceanic hot spot and its early 20th century eruption', the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) included 'The 1905-1911 Matavanu volcanic eruption' in its assemblage of 100 'geological heritage sites' around the world in a listing published in October 2022. The organisation defines an IUGS Geological Heritage Site as 'a key place with geological elements and/or processes of international scientific relevance, used as a reference, and/or with a substantial contribution to the development of geological sciences through history.'{{cite web |title=The First 100 IUGS Geological Heritage Sites |url=https://iugs-geoheritage.org/videos-pdfs/iugs_first_100_book_v2.pdf |website=IUGS International Commission on Geoheritage |publisher=IUGS |access-date=13 November 2022}}
==Gallery==
File:PEIP(1910) Map of Sawaii Island, Samoa.jpg|Topographical map of Savaiʻi - published 1910, shewing the lava fields since 1905 File:ISS012-E-23598 NASA-Savai'i east end, Apolima strait, Upolu.jpg|Savaiʻi (left island) with lava fields visible (top left) in Gagaʻemauga district (NASA photo, 2008) File:Matavanu volcanic eruption - Savai'i 1905.jpg|Matavanu lava flowing into the ocean along the coast and sending plumes of smoke skywards, 1905 File:Volcano eruption Mt Matavanu - Savai'i - 1905 - photo by Thomas Andrew.jpg|Eruption, 1905 File:LMS church in Samoa damaged by lava 1905 photo AJ Tattersall.jpg|A church damaged by lava, 1905 File:Lava Fields - Savai'i island - Samoa.jpg|Lava fields on Savaiʻi, 2009 |
References
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