Convection-driven reconnection and the stability of the near-Earth plasma sheet

Driven convection in the near-Earth plasma sheet is investigated using 3-D, full particle simulations. The inductive response to an externally imposed, uniform convection electric field leads to the effective tailward propagation of magnetic flux, the erosion of the equatorial magnetic field, the development of an embedded thin current sheet, and the eventual formation of a neutral line at the inward edge of the plasma sheet. In addition to creating a magnetic island, the neutral line permits the growth of a kink-like mode with a characteristic scale of 1-2 R-E in the east-west (y) direction. The combined plasma flows from reconnection and the kink mode are in the range of 200-400 km/s and exhibit a reversal between earthward and tailward flow as a function of y. These modifications of the plasma sheet resemble the substorm breakup changes which are observed in the current disruption region.