Abstract

The results of many investigations have shown that equilibrium current structures are frequently formed in the presence of developed turbulence. Therefore internal current instabilities cannot be the cause of observed reconnection phenomena. However external factors may be responsible for the observed changes in the magnetic field topology (reconnection). Some possible sources of such a kind, which could result in the reconnection on the Earth's magnetopause and in the near tail regions, are analyzed here. It is shown that an effective eastward ring current can lead to many of the observed reconnection phenomena.