Fumarole
Derived from the
Latin fumus,
smoke, a
fumarole is an opening in
Earth's (or any other
astronomical body's)
crust, often in the neighborhood of
volcanoes, which emit
steam and gases such as
carbon dioxide,
hydrochloric acid, and
hydrogen sulfide. The name
solfatara, from the
Italian solfo, sulfur (via the
Sicilian dialect), is given to fumaroles that emit sulfurous gases.
A good example of fumarole activity on Earth is the famous Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes, which was formed during the 1912 eruption of Novarupta in Alaska. Initially, there were thousands of fumaroles in the cooling ash from the eruption, but over time most of them have become extinct.