Structure of the Hall current system in the vicinity of the magnetic reconnection site

[1] The spacecraft Geotail has observed the Hall current system in the vicinity of the magnetic reconnection site of the near-Earth magnetotail for substorm onsets. In the outermost region near the plasma sheet/tail lobe boundary, field-aligned currents flow out of the magnetic reconnection site. In the adjacent region, just inside the outflowing current layer, field-aligned currents flow into the magnetic reconnection site. Hence, the Hall current circuit forms a thin double-sheet structure near the separatrix layer.