  It is proposed that reconnection would be a main mechanism governing the
plasma processes on auroral time scales in the topside ionosphere/high-latitude
magnetosphere transition. It occurs in the downward current region between two
narrow parallel closely spaced though separated downward current sheets. The
field-aligned currents are carried by upward cold upper-ionospheric electrons
closing the upward current in an adjacent region. This local process does
primarily not affect the ambient field but generates an anomalous diffusivity.
