Non-equilibrium and unsteady fluid degassing during slow decompression

Decompression experiments were performed on corn syrup-water solutions in order to investigate the effect of viscosity on processes of vesiculation and degassing at low to moderate degrees of volatile supersaturation. Repeat experiments demonstrated similar long term vesiculation behavior at moderate decompression rates despite highly variable initial nucleation styles. Results suggest that magmas may not necessarily achieve chemical equilibrium by vapor exsolution and may require viscosity-dependent critical supersaturations in order to vesiculate. Vesiculation also increased the ambient pressure and decreased supersaturations, resulting in unsteady degassing.