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National Park of American Samoa
Nature & Science
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| NPS photo by Tavita Togia. |
| Brown booby, fua'o, nest on Pola Ridge. |
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Overview
The Samoan Archipelago is a typical Pacific Ocean Volcanic Island arc. As the Pacific Ocean plate moves across a stationary hot spot (a place where molten rock from the Earth's mantle pierces the lithosphere plate) it forms a line of volcanoes, some of which reach the ocean surface to form a string of islands. The National Park of American Samoa is really 'three parks' on four separate islands--Ta'u, Ofu/Olosega, and Tutuila. American Samoa National Park is undeveloped and remote--in the Southern hemisphere and near the International Date Line and (from America) in the far Pacific. These web pages offer you an opportunity to visit the park vicariously--and appreciate the park's unique culture, biodiversity and scenic beauty, and day-dream of actually visiting Ofu, Olosega, Ta'u, and Tutuila. Plan to spend some time here someday.
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 Natural History Guide to the Park The on-line version of our latest book more... | |  Fish Inventory Lots of pictures of our local fishes more... | |  Coral Inventory More than 200 species, many illustrated more... | |  Plant Inventory Checklist of higher plants with some illustrations more... | |
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Did You Know?
Where still intact, Samoan rainforest extends from mountain summits to ocean shoreline. Because fruit bats are important pollinators, fruit bearing trees and shrubs are common.
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Last Updated: January 29, 2008 at 13:44 EST |