MOFETTA (Ital. from

See also:

• LAT

Lat. mephitis, a pestilential exhalation)  , a name applied to a volcanic discharge consisting chiefly of carbon dioxide, often associated with other vapours, representing the final phase of volcanic activity . The word is used frequently in the plural as mofette, or, following the French, mofettes . The volcanic vents yielding the emanations are themselves calledmofette . They are not uncommon in Auvergne and in the Eifel, notably on the shore of the Laacher See; whilst other examples are furnished by the Grotta del Cane, near Puzzuoli, the Valley of Death in Java, and the Death Gulch in the Yellowstone Park .