Dissipation mechanisms in a pair of solar-wind discontinuities

A pair of sharp closely spaced discontinuities in the solar wind was recorded by the high time resolution instruments aboard Ogo 5 on March 14, 1968. There is plasma turbulence within the double structure, and there appear to be small-amplitude hydromagnetic waves radiating from the discontinuities. The generation of the plasma turbulence is discussed in terms of magnetic drift waves. Although it seems probable that the surfaces are tangential discontinuities, arguments are also advanced that the double structure may represent the Petschek mechanism in which rapid field-line merging occurs between standing waves.