The Amsterdam St. Paul hotspot (Indian Ocean) interacts with a regional depleted mantle containing some DUPAL-like blobs. Its lateral motion velocity is about 1-2 cm/yr. The plume induced the construction of a volcanic chain and of an oceanic plateau through two pulses of more intense magmatic activity. The intraplate plate activity appears partially controlled by some tectonic stress induced by the diverging motion of the Australian and Capricorn plates along a diffuse boundary.