Also 8–9 solfatarra, 9 solfa-tara; 8–9 solfaterra, 8 solfa terra. [The name of a sulphurous volcano near Naples, f. It. solfo sulphur.] A volcanic vent, from which only sulphurous exhalations and aqueous vapors are emitted, incrusting the edge with sulphur and other minerals.
α. 1777. Forster, Voy. round World, II. 296. The earth which covered these solfatarras … had a greenish tinge from the sulphur with which it was penetrated.
1802. Pinkerton, Mod. Geogr. (1811), 663. A kind of solfatara, or vast mass of sulphur, emitting continual smoke.
1843. Penny Cycl., XXVII. 748/2. There are several solfataras, or cones of pure sulphur, and mud volcanoes.
1899. E. J. Chapman, Drama of Two Lives, 19.
| And suddenly among them shone | |
| A solfatara’s fiery cone. |
attrib. 1882. Geikie, Text-bk. Geol., 209. The dormant or waning condition of a volcano … is sometimes called the Solfatara phase.
β. 1796. Kirwan, Elem. Min. (ed. 2), II. 2. The sulphureous acid exists … in various solfaterras.
1871. Kingsley, At Last, ii. In case of … any difficulty occurring in obtaining sulphur from Sicily, a supply … might be obtained from this and the other like Solfaterras of the British Antilles.
1886. F. H. H. Guillemard, Cruise of Marchesa, I. 23. Hot springs and solfaterras are found in the neighbourhood of Tamsui.
Hence Solfataric a.
1885. Academy, 3 Oct., 225. A legacy of former vulcanicity—the lingering relics of solfataric action.
1895. Physiographic Processes (Nat. Geogr. Monographs), I. 18. This action of hot waters is known as solfataric action, and solfataric waters are quite common in volcanic regions.
