Bubble populations in hypersaline solutions of NaCl (up to 5 M), MgSO4 (up to 1.5 M), MgCl2 (up to 4.0 M) and Dead Sea brine (ionic strength of about 9 M) produced by a ceramic diffuser were analyzed. Different population parameters were observed for the different salts. It was found that for solutions of MgCl2 and MgSO4 the degree of coalescence generally decreased with increasing concentrations of salt, but not monotonically. Bubble size distributions are not simple functions of the ionic strength, the viscosity or the surface tension of the studied solutions. It is suggested that the present observations can be explained by an interplay between four mechanisms: (1) enhancement of water structure, (2) variation of surface potential, (3) ''bubble flocculation,'' and (4) ion complexation. This preliminary study indicates that the bubble-mediated transport of gas into a liquid phase is more significant in the case of a hypersaline solution as compared with fresh water and might play a significant role in determining the regime of dissolved gases in natural brines. ¿ American Geophysical Union 1992