  In order to assess the physical mechanisms at stake when giant gas bubbles
burst at the top of a magma conduit, laboratory experiments have been
performed. An overpressurized gas cavity is initially closed by a thin liquid
film, which suddenly bursts. The acoustic signal produced by the bursting is
investigated. The key result is that the amplitude and energy of the acoustic
signal strongly depend on the film rupture time. As the rupture time is
uncontrolled in the experiments and in the field, the measurement of the
acoustic excess pressure in the atmosphere, alone, cannot provide any
information on the overpressure inside the bubble before explosion. This could
explain the low energy partitioning between infrasound, seismic and explosive
dynamics often observed on volcanoes.
