Samoan Islands with black sand beaches. The highest peak is Mt. Silisili, on the island of Savai'i, one of the highest peaks in Polynesia at . The highest point in American Samoa is on Ta’u, Lata Mountain, at . The two large islands of Upolu and Savai'i in Samoa, are among the largest of Polynesian islands, at and , respectively, exceeded in size only by the two main islands of Fiji and the Hawaiian islands of Hawaiʻi and Maui. The island of Upolu is more populated than Savai'i. The next largest island is Tutuila, where the city and harbor Pago Pago (population
Evolution of Hawaiian volcanoes Waialeale, and Niihau volcanoes are in this stage of development. Eventually, erosion and subsidence break the volcano down to sea level. At this point, the volcano becomes an atoll, with a ring of coral and sand islands surrounding a lagoon. All the Hawaiian islands west of the Gardner Pinnacles in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are in this stage. Atolls are the product of the growth of tropical marine organisms, so these islands are only found in warm tropical waters. Eventually, the Pacific Plate carries the volcanic atoll into waters too cold for these marine organisms to maintain a reef by