Autooscillation of the surface tension is a phenomenon related to Marangoni instability periodically arising and fading by dissolution of a surfactant droplet under a water-air interface. A detailed experimental investigation was performed to clear up the influence of the system geometry on development and characteristics of autooscillations. It was found that the aspect ratio is an additional dimensionless parameter that determines the system behavior equally to the Marangoni number. The influence of the cell diameter, capillary immersion depth, and droplet radius on the autooscillation period and amplitude was studied as well. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved.