Abstract
We analyse the vertical structure of the magnetotail current sheetfor two time intervals during which the Cluster spacecraftscrossed the neutral sheet in a quiet time. In the intervals, thecurrent sheet moved slowly, and the value of the AE index wasrelatively small, about 40–130 nT. We find two examples of currentsheets, with the current density maximum at the magnetic equator (Bx = 0), as well as an example of off-centre or bifurcated current sheets.In the quiet time, without any fast plasma flow and withoutsignificant flapping motion, we also directly observed the bifurcatedcurrent sheet. The bifurcated current sheet is probably associated withinstabilities in the current sheet. These may be important forresearching the mechanism of current sheet bifurcation.
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