The Collaborative International Dictionary
Solfatara \Sol`fa*ta"ra\, n.[It., from solfo brimstone, sulphur, L. sulfur, E. sulphur.] (Geol.) A volcanic area or vent which yields only sulphur vapors, steam, and the like. It represents the stages of the volcanic activity.
Wiktionary
n. An area of volcanic activity that gives off sulfurous steam. (from 18th c.)
Wikipedia
Solfatara is a shallow volcanic crater at Pozzuoli, near Naples, part of the Campi Flegrei volcanic area. It is a dormant volcano, which still emits jets of steam with sulfurous fumes. The name comes from the Latin, Sulpha terra, "land of sulfur", or "sulfur earth". It was formed around 4000 years ago and last erupted in 1198 with what was probably a phreatic eruption - an explosive steam-driven eruption caused when groundwater interacts with magma. The crater floor is a popular tourist attraction, as it has many fumaroles and mud pools. The area is well known for its bradyseism. The vapours have been used for medical purposes since Roman times.
Solfatara crater.jpg|Panoramic view of the crater towards South East Mud pool in Solfatara crater.jpg|Close-up view of a mud pool Medium fumarole in Solfatara crater.jpg|Medium size fumarole in Solfatara Fumarole in Solfatara crater (close up).jpg|Biggest fumarole in Solfatara
This volcano is where the thermoacidophilic archaeon Sulfolobus solfataricus was first isolated. The archaeon is named for the volcano, as most species of the genus Sulfolobus are named for the area where they are first isolated.
In 305, this is the location where the patron of Pozzuoli, Saint Proculus, and the patron of Naples, Saint Januarius were beheaded.
Usage examples of "solfatara".
I had heard about Solfatara, it had shocked me to think that someone could do something like that.
She must have been only a child when she worked in the happy house on Solfatara with Jewell.
In spite of her youth, her silliness, I could well believe she had been on Solfatara had known all of it, the pervs, the sots, the worst the happy houses had to offer.
Kovich had played in every happy house on Solfatara before somebody broke his hands.
Pearl alone seemed to have no accent, as if her blindness had protected her from the speech of Solfatara, too.
On the off-shifts I learned to work the boards that sent out accounts to Solfatara, and to do the laundry, and after a couple of weeks Jewell had me help with the body checks on the girls.
If Jewell found out, she would send Carnie back to Solfatara, and I wanted Taber to be working on Carnie, giving her sots and trying to get her to help him, because then I could believe he had given up on me.
That known as the Solfatara, though not in eruption during the historic period, is interesting for the fact that from the crevices of the rocks about it there comes forth a continued efflux of carbonic-acid gas.
Cravat continents have vast solfatara fields belching smoke, hydrogen sulfide, and other filthy muck that gets swept around the planet, giving it almost permanent smog and incessant acid rain.
Their route lay across this wondrous region of volcanic lakes, geysers, and solfataras, which extended to the east of the Wahiti Ranges.
If Jewell found out, she would send Carnie back to Solfatara, and I wanted Taber to be working on Carnie, giving her sots and trying to get her to help him, because then I could believe he had given up on me.
In spite of her youth, her silliness, I could well believe she had been on Solfatara had known all of it, the pervs, the sots, the worst the happy houses had to offer.
Because it was here and there those wounds, craters, and those ringworms, solfataras, because of a volcano which breaks, and which throws out its pus, the globe does not die.