View source for Mofetta

{{Short description|Point at which carbon dioxide escapes in a volcano}}
[[File:Mofette-Soos.JPG|thumb|Mofetta with gas bubbles in Soos National Nature Reserve near [[Skalná]], Czech Republic]]
[[File:Laacher See, Mofetten.jpg|thumb|Mofettas on the southeastern shore of the [[Laacher See]], near [[Andernach]], Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany]]
'''Mofetta''' ([[Italian language|Italian]] from [[Latin]] ''mephītis'', a pestilential exhalation) is a name applied to a [[Volcanic gas|volcanic discharge]] consisting chiefly of [[carbon dioxide]], often associated with other [[vapour]]s, representing the final phase of [[volcanic activity]]. The [[Oxford Dictionary of English]] lists ''mofetta'' as an archaic term for the modern word [[fumarole]].
The word is used in the plural as ''mofette'', or, following the French fashion, ''mofettes''.  The volcanic vents yielding the emanations are themselves called mofette.  They are not uncommon in [[Auvergne (region)|Auvergne]] and in the [[Eifel]], notably on the shore of the [[Laacher See]]; whilst other examples are furnished by the [[Grotta del Cane]], near [[Pozzuoli]], the [[Valley of Death (Java)|Valley of Death]] in [[Java (island)|Java]], the [[Death Gulch]] in the [[Yellowstone Park]] and the series of mofette in Romania's [[Harghita County|Harghita]] and [[Covasna County|Covasna]] counties.
Depending on the mineral content of the different vapours, mofette may be used for therapeutic purposes as well.  As carbon dioxide is heavier than the air, patients can use it as [[destination spa|dry spa]], if certain safety regulations are complied with.  The first known record about mofetta treatment for injuries is from the sixteenth century, by [[Paracelsus]].
==See also==
*[[Fumarole]]
==References==
{{Commons category|Mofettas}}
* {{1911|wstitle=Mofetta}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Fumaroles]]
[[Category:Volcanic landforms]]
[[Category:Volcanic degassing]]