Characterize the time evolution of the CNT nucleation rate during vesiculation

Determine the detailed time evolution of the classical nucleation theory nucleation rate J during decompression-induced vesiculation of hydrous silicate melts, to enable accurate estimation of the microscopic surface tension at the melt–bubble interface and reduce uncertainties in nucleation modeling.

Background

Accurate modeling of the initial stages of magma vesiculation requires physical parameters including the diffusion coefficient, melt viscosity, and especially the microscopic surface tension between melt and bubble nuclei. Direct measurement of this microscopic surface tension is currently infeasible, so it is inferred via nucleation theory.

The authors note that the detailed time evolution of the nucleation rate J is not known, which propagates uncertainty into surface tension estimates derived from classical nucleation theory and complicates quantitative interpretation of decompression experiments.